


Dragon Heir

by The_Green_Seer_27



Series: Dragon Heir [1]
Category: Fairy Tail, How to Train Your Dragon (Movies)
Genre: AU, Adventure, Alternate Universe, Canon Divergence - Hiccup Leaves Before The Final Training Test, Dragon Slayer Hiccup, Fairy Tail Guild mentioned, Family Issues, Fantasy, Friendship, Gen, Magic, Might become a series, Movie Retelling, Wizard Hiccup
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-11-03
Updated: 2020-10-17
Packaged: 2021-01-21 08:02:14
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 6
Words: 31,447
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21296180
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/The_Green_Seer_27/pseuds/The_Green_Seer_27
Summary: Hiccup left Berk with Toothless on a journey to discover himself. Seven years later he's still searching. Lucky for him, Fairy Tail is with him to remind him... He's already there.
Relationships: Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III/Astrid Hofferson, Stoick the Vast/Valka
Series: Dragon Heir [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1544359
Comments: 14
Kudos: 29





	1. Invoke Magic

**Author's Note:**

> I don’t own ‘How to Train Your Dragon’ or ‘Fairy Tail’ and I’m not making any profits from this. I just love these series more than I should.
> 
> Fanart: `[Rein and Hiccup](https://www.deviantart.com/angel-devil-2009/art/Dragon-Heir-Hiccup-And-Rein-855993557)`

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello, folks! This story has been years in the making. I’ve been debating for a very long time if I even want to go ahead with this project, and I suppose I am. For now at least.
> 
> This idea has been born from my frustration with ‘Fairy Tail’ and the downhill spiral it went on after the 7 years’ time skip. And then I started thinking ‘how cool would Hiccup be as a Dragon Slayer?’ and as usual, things snowballed from there. Cause ‘How to Train Your Dragon’ has dragons and ‘Fairy Tail’ also has dragons and in the Norse mythology there are the 9 realms but what if they are more? There were so many opportunities to connect the universes I couldn’t pass this up.
> 
> This story in particular will focus more on the ‘HTTYD’ world. I wasn’t very confident in including Earthland yet and the ‘Fairy Tail’ manga was in the final arc so I wanted to wait until it was over so I could have all the answers if I needed them. The story follows the second movie, because apparently I can only write stories that follow the original plotlines nowadays. There will be an OC but the only reason I included her is because of Gajeel’s insistence, if you catch my drift.
> 
> Recently, I’ve started to develop this lone fanfic into a series that will go and adapt the rest of the manga but that implies a whole lot more commitment than I’m comfortable with. I’ll see how far I can get.
> 
> I don’t own ‘How to Train Your Dragon’ or ‘Fairy Tail’ and I’m not making any profits from this. I just love these series more than I should.
> 
> Enjoy!
> 
> EDITED: 30/09/2020 – Sentence structure; smoothed dialogue; added descriptions and feels.
> 
> This story takes place after the Oracion Seis Arc in ‘Fairy Tail’ and, obviously, after the first movie in ‘How to Train Your Dragon’. This series as a whole, mainly follows Hiccup throughout the ‘Fairy Tail’ story. I will not be radically changing things but there will be certain deviations.

Dragon Heir

Chapter 1: Invoke Magic

The sky was a vastness of blue, no clouds in sight and with only the shining disk of the sun beating down on the earth on that day of September, year X784. The little cove on the western shore of the Kingdom of Fiore was currently occupied by one lone person, lazing around near the thick tree line separating the seaside from the country beyond.

The constant splashing of the waves over the small beach was nostalgic for many different reasons to Hiccup. This spot specifically was a grim reminder of a former life and a lost dear friend.

_The heavy stench of Sulphur and despair was overwhelming. The storm brewing above them urged them to end things quickly but even pumped with adrenaline and fear, Hiccup was still at a loss. _

_They were only supposed to be scouting. How did something so tame turned into a fight for survival against what Hiccup could only describe as a demon of Helheim? Toothless’ warmth kept the negative thoughts at bay but he could feel the tense muscles beneath the scales. His friend was scared. Hiccup was terrified._

_A roar shook the heavens. _

_Toothless twitched but neither turn to look back._

_An eruption of flames soon followed tainted by the unmistakable scent of decay. They veered up, above it, and the beast revealed itself. Multiple eyes moved to track them as it pushed itself out of the mountain. _

_Hiccup felt his breath stop. They were going to die. Could they run? Would she follow? _

_His hand wrapped around the edge of the saddle. He hunched. Toothless crooned reassuringly. A brief eye contact between them and Hiccup knew what to do. He took a deep breath, almost choking on the smoke whipping around them. _

_And they dived. _

_Straight into Helheim. _

He opened his eyes. He watched the foliage above him rustling in the wind and his lips turned down in a scowl. Almost seven years have passed since he left everything behind for his best friend’s sake. Seven years since he threw away his name and his heritage for the open horizon and the promise of poison green eyes and jet black wings.

And here he was again…

Seems like he could still not go a few weeks without visiting this place. The small portion of shore where he and Toothless washed out on by complete accident was as silent as ever. As far as he knew, it has been like that for the past five years, ever since the dragon decided to disappear with no warning. He had to fight down that slight hurt that made itself known each time he thought about it.

Hiccup, formerly known as Hiccup Horrendous Haddock the Third, Heir to the Island of Berk of Midgard, was currently contemplating if destroying the beach was actually going to convince his stupid, soft heart to never seek out the place again. It wasn’t that pretty to begin with.

The sand was grainy, not exactly the best to sunbath on. And there were quite of few boulders littering the water line and spreading all over and further into the sea. The steep cliff on the left side of the cove was a giant mass of vines and roots. The sand gave away to dirt and rocks and then patches of grass that moved on the floor of the giant oak tree forest.

Hiccup was resting against one of said giant trees, covered by the shade of its crown and facing the unruly waves of the Mist Ocean. The cold breeze was soothing and familiar and the rough aesthetic of the area helped remind him of the Barbaric Archipelago. Not exactly worth admiring except from a harsh, untamed perspective that was similar to the wilderness of Berk.

Hiccup breathed in the salty air and relaxed. As annoying as it was to keep returning and see the sameness of the cove over and over again, he couldn’t deny the joy it brought him. It was here that he got to know Toothless’ real self. And it was here that he decided to start anew.

_The cold wash of water was unpleasant when you lived in land as far North as the Barbaric Archipelago. Hiccup only had a moment to take a deep breath before they were both plunging to the depths of the ocean. His hand, already white and freezing from the storm, was gripping into the saddle._

_He didn’t want to move and yet, the buoyancy that came with being submerged jerked his body up. He fought to stay near Toothless. It was futile when the waves were tugging at him relentlessly but he managed. One stubborn arm always holding the edge of the leather. He didn’t know how long they were lost in the sea. The only thing Hiccup cared about was not losing his hold._

_He felt the dragon buck and turn, sometimes bringing them close, sometimes yanking away. He never let go and the building burning in his chest grew. The growing suffocation was becoming too much to handle. And then Toothless stopped, the currents softened. He didn’t have the mind capacity to wonder what was happening. His fingers were slacking. As his vision was bombarded with black spots, he felt a pull and then the water rushing past him. He didn’t know if it was from the ocean or just the noise in his ears, but the water was getting to an uncomfortable degree of cold. _

_The next thing he knew was another pull. This one was from within. Like his whole being beneath the skin was forced out and then suddenly thrust back. It was so disorienting… Hiccup was starting to think he was dreaming at this point. Either he passed out and was passively feeling what was happening outside or he died and… at least it was in battle. _

_More cold greeted him. And air. Toothless’ grunts were covered by the hacking and panting of his poor lungs. Tall trees and rocks across a beach was the last thing Hiccup saw before he passed out. _

///\\\\\

_It was to warmth on his face that Hiccup woke up to. His body was relatively wet and itchy and the gravel he was lying on was growing unpleasant by the second. It took him a minute to realize he was mostly uninjured and another one to finally crack his eyes open. _

_The sky was blue with hints of pink. Dusk maybe? There was a weak wind blowing, but it felt like it came straight from Niflheim to him. He slowly sat up taking stock of his body. Nothing was missing, his hands were scratched to Hel and his head was pounding. His left leg was sore and he vaguely remembered a club of a tail grazing him and Toothless before they plummeted to the sea. _

_He looked around, not quite alarmed, but his brain felt like it was working through buttermilk. A few feet away from him, in the shadows of a towering rock formation, the Night Fury was lying down motionless. Hiccup blinked away the remaining shiny spots in his vision and clumsily stood up, limping as fast as he could towards his friend._

_“Hey, bud? You okay?” A wheezing breath was his only answer. _

_He tried not to panic. His shoddy memory of the prior events along with a killer headache didn’t help. He hugged himself to preserve some heat and crumbled next to the dragon, looking him over. The wings seemed fine, there were more scratches along his body but they didn’t seem too bad. His prosthetic tail on the other hand… The saddle was torn to shreds, the cable snapped and wound itself around the dragon’s tail and whatever gears and pulley system he’d constructed was completely destroyed. The leather was ripped and the metal rods holding the cloth were either missing or bent to be unusable. Hiccup would have to build everything from zero._

_The boy closed his eyes for a moment before he moved closer to him. He tried to shake him awake but Toothless only twitched. He thought instead to just remove the saddle. That couldn’t be comfortable. _

_It was harder than he thought. His hands were stiff from the frozen water and the harness had bent buckles that made it hard to untie the belts. He eventually pulled out his dagger and cut away everything, his patience wearing thin when Toothless’ body had to be moved to get all of it off. _

_He was worried though. The dragon barely stirred throughout the whole ordeal and the night was nearly upon them. The sun was almost behind the horizon and Hiccup realized that as much as his clothes dried from the sun, he was incredibly chilled. There was no way he was moving Toothless. He had to build a fire that close to the water. _

_“Can’t make my life any easier, can you?” He touched the dragon’s neck, feeling the pulse of his life under the scales. “I’ll be right back…”_

_For the next hour, he scoured the nearby woods for dry twigs to burn. It was dark by the time he returned and got started on a fire that took longer to make than he would have liked. Hiccup was starting to regret leaving his bag behind before going to the Nest. But he couldn’t risk having baggage to slow them down in case they had to run. Well, it ended up being both a good and a bad thing. Now, he only had a hunting knife, a small sack of tools, and the clothes on his back left. The tailfin was gone so no mode of transportation either… if Toothless would wake up that is._

_Also, he had no idea where they were. He ignored that before but now that he finally sat down next to his friend (his very cozy friend), he couldn’t help wondering where and how in Midgard did they end up here. It was definitely not the Nest and any other island would have been too far away for Toothless to fly. But his memory was still shot and he was tired, so he would wait for the Night Fury to wake up before making sense of things. He fell asleep curled up on the dragon’s neck, his heartbeat lulling him into an exhausted slumber while the fire continued to crackle in the background._

It wasn’t quite the rumble that woke him up. Hiccup had to admit that he was a light sleeper. He grew used to that after his dragon friend left. When he started working as a wizard in order to make a living he was usually alone. He had to be on his guard from thieves and the likes while traveling from one part of Fiore to another for his jobs.

He chalked it up to his instincts mostly. Dragon Slayer Magic had some very useful side effects. More useful than any other magic he had seen so far. And right now, something dangerous was near him.

A scream echoed in the cove.

Hiccup _moved_.

///\\\\\

The small inlet was always empty. She had always seen it empty ever since she decided to live in the area, a year and a half ago. Not that she ventured there very often. Sometimes she loved to perch on the cliff and watch the ocean stretch to the mists in the horizon. Sometimes, when she was feeling brave, she ventured further down and looked for sea shells and pretty stones that were brought in by the waves.

This time, she discarded her curiosity in favor of something more practical. She had never searched the cove for food. After building up her courage for a week, she finally decided to go. A short flight and she was on top of a rock near the cliff, searching with her eyes for anything interesting nearby. A small basket she weaved herself was dangling from one hand. Anything useful she was going to take. Whether it took more than one trip back to her den, it didn’t matter. She has been living nearby for more than a year and it was just now that she finally came down there meaning business.

So she got to work.

It was well in the afternoon and two trips later when she checked the rocky area as completed. The sky was turning cloudy and she thought she was going to look a bit more beyond the boulders before calling it a day. She moved around the biggest rock slowly, eyes taking inventory of anything useful. When she finally cleared the spot beneath the cliff she moved further down the beach and towards the massive oak trees. It was there she saw her first surprise.

The small inlet was always empty. But not today. Because nestled in the roots of one of the trees was a sleeping human. She was suddenly very scared and very frozen. The basket dropped silently from her hand. He looked like he’d just fallen asleep while watching the sea; leaning back on the trunk, arms crossed and legs somewhat bent but limp in his slumber.

Beyond the panic she could tell he was younger than _those_ men but older than the children that hatched her. His body was well-defined, strong jaw, wild auburn hair, and that actually made her worry more. Because he seemed to be in good shape. And the black gauntlets he was wearing told her that he wasn’t just any civilian passing by. Was he a knight? A hunter? A mercenary? A _wizard_?

She wasn’t sure what to do. With quick, stiff movements she picked up the basket and anything that fell out, all the while her gaze switching from her hands to the man. She was too paranoid to let him out of her sight. Even if he was unconscious. She was _that_ focused on him. Too focused to notice the second surprise until it slammed a foot on the ground a short distance from her.

She yelped and fell over. Rising from the sea was a gigantic reptilian monster. It was sniffing left and right and she felt the blood leave her face. She was starting to feel sick with fear now. Trembling like a leaf, she managed to move behind a rock. She stayed there as the monster stepped over the beach, wind howling as the sky darkened. Its gaze wondered over the terrain until it settled on the human. It opened its maw and moved closer, hungry rumbles pouring out of its throat.

She wanted to run but, at the same time, the human was alone and defenseless. Not that she could protect him but she should at least warn him. She tried to call out. All that came out was a strangled squeal. She immediately crouched down, out of sight. The monster was already above him now.

She swallowed. He was going to die. And she was going to have to watch everything. She had to do something. She had to act _now_! The beast reared its clawed arm back. She gasped. The claws swung down.

She screamed.

“WATCH OUT!”

The arm hit the tree but the human was already moving. He rolled into a crouch next to it and she blinked once. Suddenly, the best had four long gashes on its arm. It roared, gearing up for another attack. Thunder boomed in the distance to go with the crash of the monster’s fist against the ground. The human had already jumped out of the way. He then ran back underneath the behemoth and _kicked_ it. She saw the utter disbelief on its face as it folded in two, its four hind legs shaking to hold its weight.

She was gaping at the display. Something like that she’d only seen once before. From a wizard. Only somebody like that could hold such overwhelming strength as to take on a beast with their bare hands. Another thunder strike broke the sky and she flinched, finally noticing the storm. Apparently, the maybe-wizard did too. He looked over the sea shocked and she followed his gaze. A whirlpool was growing near the shore.

Well, that was unusual. Just as unusual as the tornado coming down from the sky.

///\\\\\

While the monster was busy whimpering, Hiccup took the time to look around. He took note of the small purple cat hiding behind the nearby rocks. She smelled afraid but with the onslaught of things happening in that cove it was hard to say. The storm was weird. He didn’t sense any changes in the weather earlier. The whirlpool was the same. The currents shouldn’t be able to create one in this area. Especially one that large. And then the wind carried another scent to him. This one familiar.

_‘What is _he_ doing here?’_

The croc-beast was getting up. Its arm was bleeding a bit but it looked pissed. It leaped at him, maw wide and fangs sharp. Hiccup jumped back again. Purple magic was swirling in his hands ready to be unleashed. Hiccup continued to dodge, drawing the creature down, towards the waterline. He needed it away from the cat’s hiding place but still in line with the cliff.

“When I thought about destroying this place…” The magic in his left condensed around his hand. “I didn’t actually mean it!” He punched the beast as it came at him. “Plasma Blast!”

The magic exploded in its chest, throwing it backwards straight into the rocks until it collided with the cliff side. The wall cracked and the croc-beast didn’t get up. The shock, however, unbalanced the person standing atop the cliff. Later on, Hiccup would learn that that was a very bad idea.

The wind was blowing now. The cat was yelling as she was holding onto the rock with what small claws she had. He winced and ran towards her. He managed to catch her just as she was flung in the air. At the same time the waterspout was drawing up the sea and everything around it. Stones, bushes, sand, nothing was escaping it. Including the two humans and one cat.

Hiccup winced as he was pulled off his feet. He clutched the feline to his chest, wrapping her in his gauntlets. His magic condensed behind him in a pair of black wings and he attempted to escape the vortex but even with their added force he couldn’t jerk away from the current. Hiccup gritted his teeth and held on to the cat as the heavens pulled them in.

///\\\\\

For the second time that day, Hiccup was woken up by instinct. It wasn’t the gradual thing like with the croc-beast, the slow realization that something hostile was closing in on him. This time, it shook him awake. He violently started upwards. The cat was still unconscious in his arms and he convinced his muscles to relent and relax his grip on her.

She was smaller than Happy, it was his first observation. Then again, Happy was the only talking, flying cat he had seen in Fiore. She had purple fur, fluffy ears and black dots under her eyes. She was wearing a cream sleeveless dress, stained by water and mud from before most likely. He wasn’t exempt from that. His long green tunic was dusty but surprisingly not as soaked as he expected from being sucked into a water tornado.

The two were on a beach. And it was cold. Much, much colder than before. One look around and Hiccup deduced that he was on a different beach.

Odd.

And the air was different. Familiar different. This was all very reminiscent of how he ended up in Earthland seven years ago. He stood up, careful of the burden in his arms and turned inland where a masked and cloaked figure with five staves on his back was approaching.

“Mystogan.” He nodded at the man.

“Hiccup.” He stopped a few meters in front of him. Hiccup could tell by his scent that he was nervous. He opened his mouth to ask why when the mysterious wizard beat him to it. “I can explain. This is my fault and I’m terribly sorry that you both were caught in my mistake.”

Hiccup was confused. “Huh?”

‘_Very intelligent, Haddock.’_

The man sighed and reached towards the scarf and bandana. Hiccup sucked in a breath at the bright blue hair and dark red tattoo on the right side of his face. He kept blinking like an idiot for a few seconds.

“You’re… the council guy. The one who got arrested? Siegrain, right?”

Didn’t Natsu and Erza deal with him a few weeks ago? Wasn’t he supposed to be in jail? He was a Fairy Tail wizard this whole time? Did Master Makarov know? Was the guild infiltrated? Did he impersonate the real Mystogan? Why? Hiccup had too many questions. He unconsciously tensed in case a fight broke out. Should he trust him? Fake-Mystogan noticed and a wave of shame briefly passed over his face. That didn’t help Hiccup but it made him pause.

“Who are you?” He asked, voice hard.

“I’m sure you’re confused but I’m not Siegrain.”

“What? You’re his twin? You’re taking the _twin_ thing more seriously that you should then.” He motioned to the face tattoo.

Mystogan closed his eyes. “No, we aren’t related. And his name isn’t Siegrain either. It’s Jellal, actually.”

“Well, _actually_, you may want to give me a straight answer before I decide on more drastic methods.”

The blue haired man smiled fondly.

“I’m not joking.”

“I know, I’m sorry. It’s just such a ‘Fairy Tail’ thing to do.”

Hiccup wasn’t sure how to take that. The man seemed genuine and there was nothing threatening to his posture or his scent. He forced himself to relax. Imposter or not, the man didn’t want to fight him so the least he could do was give him a chance to explain himself.

“Alright then. I’m all ears.”

Mystogan – he was going to keep calling him that – sighed in relief. “My name is also Jellal, but the Jellal who infiltrated the Magic Council and myself are different people.”

“And yet you look the same and have the same name.”

“It’s a long and complicated story.” Mystogan looked at him, eyes kind and pleading. “Maybe we should start a fire and get comfortable first?”

The cold wasn’t bothering Hiccup that much but since he woke up the temperature started to drop with the coming night. Mystogan’s outfit consisted of shirt, shorts and a cloak with bandages covering his exposed arms and legs. Not the warmest of clothes so Hiccup had to concede. He nodded and followed Mystogan to the forest. He still had a nagging suspicion of where they were but he was going to wait for Mystogan’s story before saying anything. He would rather stay quiet honestly. It was no-one’s business but himself’s. But it really depended on how the next conversation would turn out. That left a sour taste in his mouth.

They found an alcove in a rocky hill and settled there. Hiccup put the cat at the foot of a tree before hunkering down. “I’ll start on the hole for the fire while you go and get some wood.”

Mystogan agreed, wordlessly. He was still close enough for Hiccup to hear him but he wanted to know what he would do. Would he run off? Try and attack him? There was no sign indicating he would but Hiccup was still unsure about him. Nobody in Fairy Tail knew anything about Mystogan. Laxus might have known, judging from his arrogant boasts and teases whenever the conversation popped up. Hiccup narrowed his eyes as his claws dug into the ground. Now those reactions made more sense. And if Laxus knew, then it was obvious that his grandfather, the Master of the guild would also be aware of that. Master Makarov would never put ‘his children’ in danger, so whatever kind of person Mystogan was, he couldn’t be that bad then.

He was starting to feel more comfortable with the situation when their small companion began to stir. Her lids flickered revealing foggy, dark green eyes. She looked up at him. Hiccup smiled.

She started screamed.

The smile died instantly. Hiccup almost jumped away from her but stopped himself barely.

“Hey, whoa! It’s okay! It’s okay!”

Oh, for the love of Thor, he wasn’t _that_ scary! On the contrary, some said! So his black gauntlets might have upped the intimidating factor but there was still nothing threatening about a toothpick like him.

“Come on, you’re okay! Nobody’s gonna hurt you!” Well, maybe waving his hands around her wasn’t the smartest idea either. Her crying increased. He winced from how loud she was. Wow, he didn’t think he was that bad with girls. He got along just fine with Cana and Erza… “Ugh… _please_ stop crying…” Where was Mystogan when he needed him?

Speak of the devil and he shall come. Mystogan came running at them, eyes wide with concern when they landed on the poor cat. He kneeled down to her and offered his hand without hesitation. “Miss, please! I promise you, no harm will befall you!”

Whether it was the fancy words or the soothing tone, the girl finally stopped sobbing and looked at them. “W-What’s going on? W-Who are y-you?”

Hiccup’s heart melted. She might have deafened him but none of this was her fault. He smiled again and tried no to move his hands too much. “Sorry about scaring you. My name is Hiccup.”

“You may call me Mystogan. We are wizards of Fairy Tail. And you are?”

Hiccup was relieved when her eyes shone at the mention of ‘wizards’. She rubbed the tears away and stood up, blushing. Her bow was cute as she introduced herself. “I’m Rein. I apologize for causing a scene.” She shuffled her feet and her eyes darted between the two of them. “Um… are you really wizards?”

“That we are. And you shouldn’t feel sorry about anything. None of this was your fault.” Hiccup said. Mystogan bobbed his head in agreement when she turned to him for confirmation.

“If anything, it was mine.” The man added standing up. “I should go get the wood so I can explain to you what happened.”

Rein looked torn as he left and Hiccup actually felt a little jealous about that. He shook it off and went back to the campfire. Rein took back her seat near the tree and was watching the surroundings with a curious yet alarmed caution.

“Thanks for earlier by the way.” She jumped at his words. Hiccup chose to ignore that. “When the croc-beast attacked, I mean.”

“O-Oh! It was going to hurt you so…” She trailed off blushing.

Hiccup smiled, trying to ease her nerves. He was happy when she returned it shyly. “So what were you doing at the cove?” He continued. “I haven’t seen you around when I visited before?”

“You come there often?” The way that blurted out almost made him chuckle but he resisted the urge.

“Yeah. It’s a very… special place to me.” The wistfulness in his voice must have made her curious because she shuffled closer to him. Hiccup pretended he didn’t notice.

“I live there.” She said.

Hiccup glanced at her questioningly. “In the cove? Or Wisteria Town? That’s about two miles away.”

“The forest… I don’t like humans very much.”

As much as that line reminded him of Porlyusica, Hiccup couldn’t help but feel sad at the confession. “Hmm, I guess I don’t either. With the way I avoid interacting with my guild mates.”

She smiled. With more confidence this time.

Mystogan arrived with a handful that he put in front of Hiccup. Together they arranged the pyre in silence and Hiccup snapped his fingers to spark a fire. Rein gasped at the small act and Hiccup wanted to smile as she kept glancing at his fingers after. Warm and settled, the trio made themselves comfortable. Rein was between them but kept a distance from both. Neither of them said anything.

Hiccup cleared his throat and tilted his head at Mystogan. “So, you’re Jellal but not Jellal?”

He nodded at the reminder. Rein was puzzled but stayed quiet.

“Right. The truth is, I’m not from Earthland.” He took a moment to think. Hiccup wasn’t that surprised at that considering everything but Rein was. Adorably so. “I come from a world called Edolas. Edolas is like a mirror world to Earthland, therefore everyone has a counterpart there. My name is Jellal but I’m not the same Jellal that exists in Earthland. We are different people, with different pasts, different lives and different goals. The reason why I came to your world is because our current King has created and activated a weapon capable of stealing magic from Earthland and feed it to Edolas. You see, my world has a limited amount of magic. Also, people can’t freely manipulate it there as they can in Earthland.”

He sighed, staring into the fire as if it was his worst enemy. “Magic is a precious resource that caused my people to become addicted to it and also caused the King to go mad. I came to Earthland because I wanted to stop that. Whenever they open an Anima, I go there to close it. And I’ve been doing that for almost seven years now. The storm that came out of nowhere back then was an Anima. It was small and it should have been easy to end but something made it react and get bigger. I also got distracted by your fight. It was my mistake for getting too close though…”

Hiccup blinked and bowed his head in embarrassment. “Oh, now that you mention that… I already knew you were there. I caught your scent earlier but I decided to ignore you. Or rather, I was expecting that you would be fine. So don’t beat yourself too much about it. Okay?” Mystogan looked away but the acceptance in his eyes was all that Hiccup cared about.

He should have known the Master would allow someone like Mystogan to join. The man was a grandfather, in the strongest sense of the word, to all of them. Something in his chest eased at the fact that Mystogan was not an enemy. Nevertheless, the realization of how much worry he felt for his guild mates made the pit in his stomach deepen.

“Um…” The timid voice reminded them both of the other person in the group. She was looking at Hiccup oddly. “Scent?”

Hiccup smiled and nodded. “Ah, yeah! I’m a Moon Dragon Slayer. We all generally have very advanced senses.” He shrugged. His senses, especially hearing still weren’t as good as Natsu’s but the Fire Dragon Slayer was largely known to be more beast than human anyways.

She nodded, the glint of wonder in her eyes still there. “Okay. So where are we now exactly?”

Mystogan’s eyes dropped to the ground. “I’m not sure. I apologize! I lost control of the Anti spell so I’m unsure of where exactly it sent us. This is definitely not Edolas, though.”

Hiccup frowned and looked away. Should he? He got the gist of how the Anima worked but Mystogan didn’t know about the other world gate that probably laid at the bottom of the Mist Ocean. Knowing about it might help him figure out a way back. Gods knew, Hiccup was no expert in any kind of Teleportation Magic. He sighed and shifted. Mystogan looked at him. His eyes had a glint of suspicion, as if he was already aware Hiccup was hiding something. Well, the former Viking never thought the man was stupid.

“This is Midgard. I won’t pretend like I understand how portals to other realms work but, in the ocean, somewhere along the shoreline of that cove was another one. To here. My home world.” He took a deep breath and met Mystogan’s stare. “It’s amazing how our circumstances are similar but so different still.”

“You’re not from Earthland?” The only way to tell his surprise was the slight widening of his eyes. “Hold on! Another portal? Is that why the Anima was moving towards the ocean?”

Hiccup shrugged stiffly. “You tell me, you’re the expert apparently.”

Mystogan seemed to want to continue with that but stopped himself. “So you were saying.”

Hiccup almost groaned. Mystogan’s expectant face annoyed him but he felt like he had to tell his own story now. “You said you came to Earthland because you wanted to protect your people.” He was pleased to note the slight twitch of his eye. “I came to Earthland because I ran away from mine. To be honest with you, I’d rather we don’t even leave this island and just figure out a way back. I don’t want to have anything to do with them anymore.” As cold as he wanted himself to be, that was a bold-faced lie. He wished his fellow guild mate would roll with it and not question him further. Though, from the frown on his face that wasn’t going to happen.

Rein’s ears lowered at the building tension. She was glancing between them, rubbing her hands, and nervous about where the conversation was going. Eventually Mystogan relented and she breathed a sigh of relief.

“Fine. I’m not okay with that but it’s been a long day already. We should get some sleep and figure things out in the morning.”

Hiccup allowed the tension to leave him too. They didn’t speak as they each laid down near the fire. With raging thoughts of dragons and Vikings and Berk and his father, Hiccup believed he would never get an ounce of sleep. He was out the moment he closed his eyes in a restless slumber.


	2. Magic Challenger

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don’t own ‘How to Train Your Dragon’ or ‘Fairy Tail’ and I’m not making any profits from this. I just love these series more than I should.
> 
> EDITED: 30/09/2020 – Sentence structure; added narration; smoothed dialogue.

Chapter 2: Magic Challenger

_They spent a week in the cove healing. Hiccup felt much better the next day but he was still puzzled about their location. It was much warmer than he remembered it being in the archipelago. There were some plants he didn’t know but he wasn’t an expert in that anyway. Toothless woke up soon too. However, he was mostly immobile for a few good days. The queen’s last ditch attempt at bringing them down with her failed, but it still left the dragon in a delicate state. Hiccup tried his best to care for his friend but the difference in anatomy made that hard. He made sure he was as comfortable as possible, brought him food and cleaned his injuries. _

_They retreated in the trees, where the shadows of the large forest could cover them from any curious eyes. The area seemed deserted and that quelled Hiccup’s worries of being discovered at least. Toothless’ appetite grew enormously with each day thought. From dawn to dusk, Hiccup found himself stuck fishing, or raiding the woods for fruits. Even back on Berk he knew he went through a dozens of baskets in the week the dragon stayed there, but it was getting ridiculous now. _

_He also slept a lot. He understood _that_ at least. Toothless especially needed to rest after everything. When he wasn’t gathering food, Hiccup was sleeping with the dragon. Their days were boring and it was only so much that Hiccup could take of the same old routine. Two and a half weeks later, when Toothless was back on his feet and he could hunt, Hiccup finally noticed. _

_“Am I going crazy, or are you bigger? And buffer?” _

_The question escaped him one night while they were eating. Toothless stopped from devouring a deer to stare at him. Hiccup stared back. It was hard to see any changes considering they never even left each other’s side these days. The dragon always towered over him even on all four. But somewhere in the last few days the smooth curves and lines of the Night Fury’s shape changed. He wasn’t a sinuous thing anymore. Before, his neck was thick and it flowed into his body seamlessly. Now, his shoulders looked more defined, his back broader, his wings took more space. He tried to mentally compare the dragon from Berk to the one in front of him. It took some time due to unwanted memories and feelings but the more he thought about it the more the images didn’t match. _

_The dragon shrugged, inclining his head as if wondering why it mattered. His nose lifted in the air and he took a deep breath. He did that often now too. _

_Tasting the air. Not for the first time Hiccup wished he had a notebook to write down everything._

_It was when he had a nightmare that the shock and realization of how big the changes were finally hit him. It wasn’t unusual for him to recall the battle with the queen. Merged with his previous fear of killing the Nightmare in the ring and his father’s voice congratulating him for finally becoming like him, a true dragon slayer, a Viking… and watching Toothless wrapped in the bola, defenseless at his feet…_

_“HICCUP!” He could be excused for panicking when a foreign voice woke him up but it was actually Toothless standing over him. “_Hiccup_!” The voice repeated happily before a tongue descended over his face._

_Hiccup never felt more freaked out in his life._

_It took months for Toothless to finally put words in a coherent sentence. The whole experience was beyond bizarre. And Hiccup still didn’t know where they were. There was a small village nearby but he didn’t have any of their currency and the people were wearing weird clothes and acting differently. Hiccup started to understand that he was far away from the Barbaric Archipelago. _

_And something unheard of was happening to his dragon friend. _

_He always felt like Toothless was smarter than any dragon he’s seen. He was capable of understanding him and reacting and even answering with his own growls and warbles. He wasn’t prepared for him to suddenly start talking though. The physical changes slowed down but didn’t stop. His scales, usually smooth and shiny, grew sharper, more rough, especially down his tai and wingsl. And his left fin was starting to regenerate. _

His left fin was starting to regenerate!

_“The air.” He was sniffing again._

_“What about the air?” _

_The dragon turned to him, bright green eyes thoughtful as he tried to choose his words. “The air… is strong. It is magic.”_

_That didn’t help Hiccup at all. He was amused by how mystified Toothless was but he didn’t understand anything of what was happening. When they finally could hold a conversation for longer than a few minutes, they both sat down on the beach in front of the ocean one week later. _

_“Are you sure you can talk about this now?”_

_He felt the rumble of the body behind him and took it as a yes. Toothless was still communicating non-verbally from time to time and Hiccup guessed it was for his comfort mostly._

_“I think I have been here before.” _

_Hiccup nodded. He already knew that._

_“A long time ago. I do not remember it. But this air is fresh and uh… nostalgic. I think I was born here.”_

_Hiccup frowned at that. “Do you know where this is exactly?”_

_“Um… It is not like before. Like back there…”_

_“You mean it doesn’t feel like the Archipelago?” The dragon shook his head, glaring at the sunset. Hiccup understood he must have been frustrated he couldn’t make himself clear enough. “Or… it doesn’t feel like Midgard?”_

_“Midgard?”_

_“It’s what Vikings call our world. The realm of humans.”_

_“Huh, you are arrogant.”_

_Hiccup snorted. “I suppose. So magic?”_

_“You know magic too, right?”_

_“Well, the Gothi deals with it most of the time. But yeah!” It was getting cold the faster the sun was disappearing. He drew his old vest closer and snuggled into Toothless. “Are you saying this place has magic in the air? Is that what caused all… this?” He vaguely motioned with his hand at the dragon and he followed the move smiling. _

_“I think so. There is a lot of magic here. More than anywhere I have seen.” He paused. “I feel stronger than ever.” He looked Hiccup in the eye. “I do not think I have a fire limit now.”_

_Hiccup swallowed. What was happening to Toothless, he kept wavering between happy and concerned. He hadn’t noticed a big change in his mental state except he was more outspoken now that he could. Their silent communication translated rather well into two-sided dialogue as his speech developed more and more. _

_But deep in his mind, he wondered… how much more will he change? Will this process stop? Once his tail was healed, will Toothless leave him? Did he hate him for what he put him through?_

_A wet snout pushed against his head. “I can sense your worry.” Wide eyes watched him, so big and filled with affection. “What is wrong, Hiccup?”_

_He had to ask, no matter how afraid it made him. “D-Do you… um…” His throat constricted around the words. “What are you gonna do when your tail is, uh, healed?”_

_Toothless blinked. He grinned. All fangs and everything. “I’m going to fly as close to the Moon as I can.”_

_Hiccup tried to share his enthusiasm._

_“I hope you do not mind going without that thing of yours.”_

_“M-My thing?”_

_“Yeah… the thing you put on my back.” He tilted his head to look and Hiccup gasped._

_“You mean the saddle?” The dragon bobbed his head. “You want me to fly with you?”_

_“Of course! I want to share that feeling with you… if you want.” He backtracked noting Hiccup’s confusion._

_“I do, I just… I thought you would like to have some alone time.”_

_Now Toothless was confused. He crooned softly and gently nuzzled Hiccup. “Hiccup, I think of you as my brother. Of course I want you to join me.”_

_Hiccup felt himself tearing up. At the dragon’s insistent touches, he wrapped his arms around his neck as much as he could and sniffed. “So you won’t leave me?” _

_“I will never leave you… silly human.” Toothless spread his wing over him and the two remained on the beach, under the moonlight, basking in each other’s company._

///\\\\\

Hiccup stood up when the screams reached him. His sudden movement caused the other two to jerk awake as well. Rein was looking at him terrified. It stung a bit, to be honest. Mystogan was frowning, already knowing something important must have caught his attention.

“On the other side of the island there are people. And they are screaming.”

“An attack?”

Hiccup listened for a second. “Definitely.”

“Let’s go.”

Mystogan took Rein into his arms and hurried after Hiccup who was already running towards the chaos. He screeched to a halt when Hiccup stopped and turned to look at him, his eyes suddenly taking him in from head to toe.

“Something wrong?” He asked.

“Um, I never thought about it until now but… you two would stand out like a sore thumb among the people of Midgard.” Hiccup groaned at their baffled stares. “I mean, there are no purple, talking cats here. And no human has natural blue colored hair. The tattoo is fine, I guess… and then there’s your clothes…”

Mystogan nodded with resigned acceptance. “Of course. I should have seen that as a possibility. I can cover my face and hair but there is nothing I can do about the clothes for now. And Rein can hide under my cloak for a while.”

They both looked at her and she shrunk in Mystogan’s arms. “I-I guess…”

“Sorry.” Hiccup said apologetically. Mystogan simply waved him off and soon they resumed their run towards the settlement.

It took longer than Hiccup would have liked to get there on foot. The island’s terrain was tricky, not unusual around the archipelago. When he got closer to the edge of the village, the familiar sight of burning houses and panicked people greeted him. Some men were holding farming tools, very few had proper weapons and were only waving them at the dragons, not engaging thankfully. Hiccup’s hope that his efforts were good for something dimmed painfully.

Another roar, this one he knew well, broke through the shouts from the direction of the port. Hiccup twisted between the crowd, to the docks where he finally saw the croc-beast biting into the nearest boat. He was surprised for a moment. But thinking about it again, the beast was also near them when the portal sucked them in.

He grumbled and picked up a good sized rock. He couldn’t risk using his magic around so many people. The fewer questions, the better. And he didn’t even know how fast his reserves would fill back up. If they even would.

“Hey, ugly!” He shouted aiming the rock at its forehead. The creature growled, rising from the water. Some of the villagers were looking at him as if he lost his mind. _‘Crap! Now that they’re looking at me, I can’t even re-equip Raven. Nice going there, Haddock.’_

The croc lunged at him. Hiccup bounded out of the way letting the monster crash in to the ground. Covered by dust and debris – and most importantly out of sight – he finally summoned his only sword, Raven, the black edge shining just as smooth as his gauntlets. “Alright, big guy! I think you’ve had enough fun for a day.”

Shouts from further inside the town caught his ears but Hiccup focused on the towering sea beast. He dove at it, swaying out of the way of its trunk like arms. As it banged on the earth, creating another crack, Hiccup leaped on the appendage. He swung the black blade. The monster bellowed as the sword cut through the scales on the inside of its upper arm. It tried to grab him but Hiccup was already leaping over its shoulder, turning in the air and slashing at its back.

He landed on its thick tail and kept moving. The beast was turning after him but Hiccup proved to be too fast. Always staying in its blind spot, Hiccup slashed and hacked at the monster, each time dancing out of its grasp. He stopped for a moment to check on the village. Surprisingly, there was a team of sailors that were helping Mystogan wrangle the two dragons that attacked. Hiccup saw they had the situation under control and nodded to his fellow wizard. By now, the village was evacuated and they were the only ones who stayed to fight.

The croc was furious again, marching with thudding steps towards him. Hiccup gritted his teeth and dodged the double hammer punch that made a crater where he once stood. One of the sailors tried to approach but Mystogan held him back.

Hiccup realized he was going to have to end this fight soon. But only with his sword he wasn’t going to put down the beast quickly. A glance at the sailors and a quick count put them at around eight men. All of them were big and rough, as men of the sea should be but Hiccup was more concerned with what kind of stories will get out of them.

He was going to have to use magic. The beast swung its tail. Hiccup let out a breath when the appendage quickly whipped by his chest, missing him by inches. The monster started swinging all of its limbs in a blind rage. Hiccup was hard pressed to stay out of its reach, let alone find an opening to slash at it.

As he backpedaled a good distance away from the monster he mentally went over the most logical explanations for his magic. The Seidr. It wasn’t unusual for men to practice magic but the problem laid in how different the magic was. Hiccup has never seen the Gothi shoot laser beams during rituals so for that part he was going to have to wing it. And do it convincingly.

The croc-beast was turning to follow but the wizard didn’t give it any time. With the moon glowing in the sky, he could feel the magic running through him. Hiccup dismissed his sword and took a deep breath.

“Moon Dragon Roar!” The torrent of blinding purple magic collided with the beast and threw it back in the ocean, growling and bleeding. He held back as much as he could as to not waste magic but even with that, the monster wasn’t going to be on its feet any time soon if again.

As the swirl of the spell settled down, Hiccup evaluated his reserves. Even as low-powered at the roar was he was still going to take twice as much time to recover from that. He knew Midgard had magic, but it was only now that he realized how little it was. No wonder his best friend went through such a change when he came to Earthland, a world so enriched with ethernano ready to be used.

He turned to face the others. Mystogan was already on his way to him, Rein peeking starry-eyed out of his cloak. Coming behind him was a tall, fit, young man with slicked back hair and blue tattoos on his chin.

“Hiccup, are you okay?” He knew that question had more to do with his magic than his obvious well-being. The former heir nodded before switching to the Viking.

“That was nice of you, helping these folks.”

The tattooed man stopped a polite distance away, smiling handsomely. His eyes shifted from Hiccup, to Mystogan and then to where the monster was send flying. “Not at all. It’s what we do.” He said instead, offering his hand which Hiccup hesitated for a second before taking it. “I’m Eret, son of Eret. Finest dragon trapper alive. And you don’t seem to be from around here.”

Hiccup spotted the two dragons being hauled towards a ship further away. His first instinct was to question it but he crushed it immediately.

“I’m Hiccup and this is my… friend, Mystogan. And we were just passing through, just like you guys.”

“I’m sure you were. You must have quite the story.” Again, he was looking towards the sea.

“Not as much as you think.”

Eret pointed over his shoulder at his men. “You wanna join us for a drink? As thanks for helping us out?”

Hiccup knew with just a taste of the air that Mystogan was both curious and anxious to accept the offer. On the one hand, they could get some answers out of them of their location and state of the archipelago but on the other hand they could get caught red-handed as outsiders. Eret didn’t look brilliant but he wasn’t stupid. He called them out on being foreigners right out the gate. Hiccup was ready to decline him when Eret started again.

“I would definitely love to hear the exploits of another Dragon Slayer.”

And the world screeched to a halt just like that. He didn’t need to look to see the confusion in Mystogan’s eyes. Hiccup barely held himself from openly gawking at the man.

“I’m not that well-versed in this magic business, but I’ve heard of someone else pulling off stuff like that. So how about it?”

Hiccup and Mystogan exchanged worried glances. They had no choice now. And Eret knew that.

“Yeah, sure. Lead the way.” Hiccup finally said.

The young trapper grinned and turned around, ignoring their apprehension. The two wizards and a hidden cat followed him more subdued.

“What was that about?” Mystogan whispered as they followed the team with the dragons.

“That’s impossible! There is not enough magic in this world for someone to learn Dragon Slayer Magic. For that matter, there is not a powerful enough dragon that can teach it.” He sighed at his guild mate’s confusion. “The dragons in Midgard are very different. They don’t hold a candle to the ones from Earthland. My guess is because the magic here is so rare they can barely horde it for themselves, not to mention teach someone else how to use it.”

“I suppose. It was very easy to take down _those_ dragons. I was unsure if I should even call them that…”

Hiccup grimaced. As much as it pained him to admit it, the dragons of Midgard were a joke compared to Earthland. He highly doubted there even was one that could put a scratch on someone like Acnologia. He deliberately turned his attention from that particular subject and back to the ‘another Dragon Slayer’ issue.

He didn’t sense any dishonestly in Eret’s words. In fact, if it wasn’t for the fact that he and his crew were capturing dragons, Hiccup might have liked the older boy. For him to be so blunt about the magic stuff, however, meant that he knew in some capacity who the other Dragon Slayer was. Hiccup just wanted to get away from this world and go back to Fiore where he could continue his journey. He wanted nothing to do with anyone’s affairs. But he couldn’t ignore something like this.

Hiccup made sure he knew all about the Dragons Slayers back in Earthland. It was hard to track them down, especially considering how young some of them were, but when he put his mind to it there was nothing that could deter him. As far as he knew, none of them had disappeared recently. He had traveled far and wide and he had not stumbled upon another portal to Midgard either. He would say that the chances that they would encounter one were very slim. This news was very troubling but he wanted to get to the bottom of it. He wondered if he would come to regret it later. Considering his luck, probably.

“So we’re going to check this out first?”

Hiccup noticed that Mystogan was watching him a bit too smugly. As much as he wanted to punched him, he merely frowned.

“I have a bad feeling about this. And I’ve learned to trust my dragon instincts.”

Mystogan nodded, seriousness settling again over his features. “Funny how the two loners of Fairy Tail ended up teaming up.”

The former heir smirked with no humor. “I guess all things must come to an end, huh?”

“I, at least, had a reason to keep my distance. Wouldn’t want to cause Erza anymore trouble and heartache.” The taller wizard eyed Hiccup curiously. “So what was yours exactly?”

Hiccup really reconsidered punching him. “Why do you insist on making this about me?”

“You clearly have some unsolved issues. And I just want to help.”

“I can say the same thing about you. But I’m not butting in, am I?”

A slight crease flashed over Mystogan’s face. “The difference between us is that I’m not running away from my problems. I have a plan and I’m acting on it. You refuse to even acknowledge yours.”

It wasn’t often that Hiccup’s temper blew up. Mystogan was making it very difficult to reign it in and he knew deep down that it was all intentional. He was getting angry and if the taller wizard didn’t stop soon, the croc-beast wouldn’t be alone at the bottom of the ocean.

“Look, I appreciate your concern. But this is something that I’ve left behind me a long time ago, and I’m not getting back there. I just want to figure out this whole thing and then we can see about going back to Earthland, okay?” It was getting hard to maintain a whisper. “Also, I don’t want you guys to get involve too much in this world.”

Mystogan shook his head. “I don’t know how wise of a decision that is. It means we are blind to a lot of things.”

“To be fair… we’re not the only ones.”

///\\\\\

Eret stopped them in front of his ship. The wooden deck of the makeshift port cracked under the weights of the two dragons as the trappers dragged them in the hold. There was a lot of noise, yelling and shoving but the three of them were impressed by the crew’s dexterity and swiftness. Eret directed them briefly but spun around to see them halfway through the process.

“So, my boys and I aren’t staying here for long. With these two, we have some pretty impressive cargo to deliver to our boss now. But it can wait for a quick shindig, eh? I’m really interested about you guys.”

“Your boss?” Hiccup inquired instead.

“Yeah, he’s the Dragon Slayer I mentioned actually.” He laughed nervously. “He’s uh… not very fond of being let down, so we gotta do our best.”

Hiccup narrowed his eyes and nodded. After a moment he added. “So about that shindig, can we stay on land for that?” At the quizzing looks of those around him, Hiccup slouched. “I don’t really get along with boats.”

Eret laughed. He slapped his back playfully and shouted at everyone to bring the mead. “Yeah, not all are made for the sea.”

It was in a clearing overlooking the bay and the port that the crew and the wizards finally sat down and relaxed. Drinks were passed to everyone in huge, wooden tankards and whatever left-overs were put on a plate for all to pick. It was early morning but the sun was still nowhere to be seen. The sailors laughed and sung around the fire and soon Eret’s tongue was loosened enough to get some information.

“Drago is so demanding, every time we deliver him a batch he wants more for the next one. We have no breaks and that thief ain’t helping matters. And if we don’t fulfill our quota… well, he’s not happy, I can tell you that.”

The alcohol wasn’t enough to make him blurt out everything but Eret soon warmed up to them. Mystogan had taken down the mask covering his face and had a quick bonding moment over their tattoos with Eret, to Hiccup’s relief. He was also pleasantly surprised at the taste of the mead. Rein asked, quite pointedly to try it before realizing what she did and hunkering down in his cloak again. They both found that highly amusing.

Hiccup was keeping up with Eret but he was in a much better state of mind than him thanks to his metabolism. “Sounds like a strict man.”

“Yep… but it beats a life of boring trading.”

Drago Bludvist did not seem to be a nice person. And Hiccup was mixed up why a guy as fine as Eret would agree to work for him. From his words, he got the feeling that Eret wasn’t happy with his job conditions but at the same time he seemed to be in awe with the man. Hiccup could kind of understand that. If this guy was capable of wielding Dragon Slayer Magic than all his followers must have been either coerced into joining him or impressed beyond belief. Eret appeared to be striding the line of fear and admiration. That meant it wouldn’t take much for him to fully go either way.

“Why would somebody even need a dragon army though?”

Eret huffed leaning back on his hand. “Beats me. There’s a lot of crazy going on around him but, y’now, better join them early.”

“How exactly can a man even control a dragon army?” Added Mystogan carefully. “From where I come from, dragons are beings that cannot be controlled. They are just too powerful…”

Hiccup wasn’t sure that Mystogan had actually met a dragon before, but even if he did there was no doubt to his words. A dragon army in Earthland would have been impossible. In Midgard something like that, while achievable, was not going to last for long. Dragons were just too unpredictable.

“Eh, he put the fear of Gods in them. Just like he did with everything…” Eret said, his words slurring and features thoughtful. Hiccup and Mystogan briefly made eye contact.

“A cornered animal is at its most dangerous.” Replied Mystogan finishing up his drink. Rein shifted under his cloak. 

Eret scoffed but didn’t disagree. The sight of the peeking sun was a sign their party was coming to a close. As the lull brought by the alcohol took over the crew, Eret finally decided for everything to be put away. A short rest and they would be on their way.

“Of course, you’re welcome to join us. We’re heading straight for the base where Drago is now.”

Hiccup nodded hesitantly. “You really want us to come with you, don’t you?”

The trapper smiled, wide and charming. “Only ‘cause you’re really curious too. I’m sure you didn’t get as much as you wanted out of me.”

Again, Hiccup had to give the man some credit. Tipsy or not, Eret was sharper than he first looked. They agreed to meet up again in a few hours, give the sailors time to settle their headaches and rest for the trip. The two wizards and a hidden cat walked around the village towards their camp in a thoughtful silence. Rein was fidgeting and once they were back in the forest, Mystogan allowed her to come out. She perched herself on his shoulder nervously.

“So what do you think?” He finally asked his fellow guild mate. Hiccup was getting suspicious of Eret but he couldn’t deny that he was their best bet to get to Drago at the moment.

Mystogan was quiet. “It seems precarious.”

“What part?”

The older wizards quirked a smile. “Eret seems like a very charismatic individual. He wants to please Drago Bludvist because he probably has some experience of displeasing him in the past. From what he said, magic like Drago’s has never been seen before and he was very welcoming to us. Especially you.”

“So he basically wants to give us to Drago along with the dragons. Yeah, that’s what I though too.” Hiccup nodded.

“He probably doesn’t trust us.”

“Neither do we.”

“What do you want to do about the dragons?”

The question shouldn’t have caught him off guard. Hiccup felt his chest constrict at the thought of Vikings still waring against dragons even after he and his best friend defeated the Queen an eternity ago. The matter should have been solved. There was nobody to control them again, so why were dragons attacking people still? And not even Vikings, just normal villagers who only wanted to live peacefully.

“I saw you looking at them and I know you hate me intruding on this but you can tell me, Hiccup.” Mystogan looked at him, gray eyes begging him to let him help. “Please, you can’t bear this on your own.”

“And you know that how?” He asked defensively. He really hated that he considered telling him. He was so confident that his past would stay in Midgard. They only had to keep to that beach and figure out a way to open the portal. But he heard the screams and couldn’t ignore them. He had the power to protect and he couldn’t ignore those who couldn’t do it for themselves. That brought too many painful memories from his childhood to the front; of being defenseless, of being protected, of being weak and useless. Ugh, why did everything had to come back to Berk?

“Hiccup, we are the same. We are both strangers who found a home in a wonderful guild. Who tried to keep everyone at arms’ length because we thought we were too different even by Fairy Tail’s standards. We both left our worlds because we couldn’t stand how things were, or where they were going. The truth is that we’re both still looking for that place to truly belong. I want to return to Edolas one day, but I will not until I know for certain my father will be judged for what he did. Not until I undo his wrongs.” He sighed at Hiccup’s growing frustration.

“I know you still love this world, and I can tell that you want to return to your own home. I do not understand what is stopping you but know that I will not judge you as it isn’t my place to do so. If there is one thing I’m certain of, is that you are not a bad person.” They stopped. Mystogan made sure to look him in the eyes.

Hiccup was rigid and very irritated. There were a hundred things he wanted to say and what stopped him was how genuine Mystogan looked at him. He shouldn’t have been surprised that he wanted to help because that was exactly how Fairy Tail portrayed themselves as. Just crazy, dysfunctional people that truly wanted to help others and it pissed Hiccup off something fierce.

He didn’t need that right now. He was perfectly fine with himself. His only objective was to find his best friend and his best friend was _not on Midgard_. There was no need to dig up old wounds.

“I want to help you, not because I’m curious about this world of yours but because Fairy Tail taught me this. We are Fairy Tail wizards, and we stay by each other. No matter what!”

That seemed what everything boiled down to. No, that was the _only_ thing that seemed to matter in Fairy Tail. Blood, reputation, history, nothing was as important as being _friends_. Just because they were part of the same guild. So naïve and stupid…

Hiccup forgot how much he loved that.

He wanted to go back to Berk, but he was afraid of what he would find. Especially now with the knowledge that dragons still attacked. He tried to fool himself into thinking that it didn’t matter. The past was the past and it was better for everything to be left behind, where it couldn’t harm him. He was different now, he was stronger and capable, he was a warrior who fought countless battles, who traveled to odd lands and bore scars that would make men cheer and congratulate him. He was the son his father had always wanted. The son he had to lose in order to gain. He wanted to go back, but Hiccup knew that he would feel even more of a stranger than in Earthland.

He didn’t want to be in that situation where he would have to confront his father and tell him he didn’t _want_ to stay. He didn’t want to see the disappointment on his face as he would hear that his son feared to belong.

“Hiccup, please! You are not alone anymore.”

Hiccup took a deep breath, claws scraping against his palms as his fists shook. And that was exactly it. Because if he was alone, he would have felt inclined to check up on them. He would not stay and he would not interact with anyone, just make sure everything was still standing, that his father was still kicking and generally being a stubborn pain, that Gobber was still singing horribly while working, that Astrid was leading a happy life as she should. Nobody had to know or see how pathetic he was.

But naturally, the Gods didn’t like him that much to begin with so of course Mystogan was here. As well as Rein who was the least involved in this mess. He didn’t know the older wizard that well, but the last thing Hiccup wanted was for him to get hurt by something he had nothing to do with.

Hiccup had a bad feeling about Drago Bludvist. He also had a bad feeling that Berk was not done with him. One way or another, things would collide so magnificently, Hiccup would wish he would have destroyed that cove years ago.

“I… _Why_ are you so insistent?” His voice was thick with emotion.

“As I said, you can’t bear this on your own. Sooner or later you’ll reach a breaking point and nobody will be there to catch you. So let me do it!”

Hiccup tensed and looked at him. After what felt like hours, he finally unclenched his hands. His shoulders dropped and he sighed.

“Ok… ok, fine!” He fell down on next to the closest tree. He didn’t care where they were. He wasn’t sure he could muster the will to move any way. He rested his arms over his knees and nodded. “Sure! It’s partially my fault we’re here anyway, so you should know what’s the situation if we want to leave with Eret.”

If Mystogan noticed the tremors in his voice he didn’t mention it. The taller wizard slowly joined him on the forest floor and watched him with patient eyes. Rein was quiet but she was rubbing her hands unsure if she should stay or not. Hiccup caught her eye and nodded, hoping that would be enough to calm her nerves. He didn’t think he could smile.

“I come from an island named Berk. It's twelve days north of Hopeless, and a few degrees south of Freezing to Death. It's located solidly on the Meridian of Misery…”

The next few hours until the meeting, Hiccup spent recounting his former life. He never imagined that the only person he would completely open up to would be his fellow recluse guild mate.


	3. Dark Afterglow

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello, everyone! Thank you to the people who reviewed and added the story to their favorites and alerts. I sincerely hope you’re enjoying this fic so far.
> 
> I’ve thought about putting a Spoiler Warning to certain chapters in the future since there will be things coming up that have been revealed later on in ‘Fairy Tail’ or even in the final arc/season. I don’t want to ruin your enjoyment of the anime/manga so I want to let everyone know that, in case you want to catch up to the original material before reading this.
> 
> This story takes place after the Oracion Seis Arc in ‘Fairy Tail’ and, obviously, after the first movie in ‘How to Train Your Dragon’. This series as a whole, mainly follows Hiccup throughout the ‘Fairy Tail’ story. I will not be radically changing things but there will be certain deviations. I’m currently trying to switch things up more so as to not be too close to the original but… we’ll see, I guess.
> 
> I don’t own ‘How to Train Your Dragon’ or ‘Fairy Tail’ and I’m not making any profits from this. I just love these series more than I should.
> 
> EDIT: 5/10/2020 – Some narration added; a bit of restructuring for better flow.

Chapter 3: Dark Afterglow

It was around noon when everyone got together. By the time the trio arrived, the sailors were finishing up loading the provisions. It was agreed that Rein would remain hidden for now. The cat wasn’t exactly happy with the idea but she gave in after Hiccup explained that there wasn’t anything like her in Midgard as far as he knew. In any case, they shouldn’t risk it. Plus, she could be their ace in the hole if things went south. Rein was much more at ease after that.

Hiccup and Mystogan stopped at the gangplank and waited there for a few minutes until the deck was more ordered and Eret came to greet them and officially invite them on board. They’ve been in Midgard for one day and Hiccup was already exhausted. The thought that he had to go on the ship feeling like he went ten rounds with Gildarts expanded the knot of dread in his stomach until he wished he hadn’t even drunk anything earlier. He honestly didn’t understand where this sudden bout of motion sickness came from since he had never had such problems on Berk. Not that he went out with the boats much then. It was something so strange to develop when he grew up in a fishing village.

On the emotional side of things, he was more or less spent. The discussion with Mystogan had helped, surprisingly. He finally managed to bring up some issues that he has been dealing with ever since he came to Earthland and even some that he developed growing up on Berk. Having a second head to think with allowed him to see the bigger picture, understand other points of view and even came to accept the fact that Mystogan himself was hell bent on sticking with him until the end. He was beginning to understand why he was so adamant about getting Hiccup to open up once he also divulged some of his own worries about Edolas. Their situations truly were parallels. The difference was that Mystogan didn’t really think high of his father, unlike Hiccup.

All in all, Hiccup was grateful that he wasn’t alone right now. He only wished that he had a certain other person by his side still.

“Hey, you came back.”

The overenthusiastic and amused welcoming distracted Hiccup from his mind. Eret was striding over to them, careful of any of his crewmates as they still ran around checking stuff. Rein shifted underneath Mystogan’s cloak, one green eye wide and peeking nervously at the crowded space.

“Yes, we did.” Called back Hiccup. “Is the offer still standing?”

“Naturally.”

Eret moved sideways, waving his hands and welcoming them up. Mystogan stepped up first. Hiccup had to take a second to calm down. He didn’t want to throw up the moment he stepped on the ship and make a complete fool of himself.

“I did mean it when I said I’m not good with ships. Just so you know.” He warned finally.

Eret smirked. “No worries, mate. You can stay in my quarters if you want.”

Hiccup rolled his eyes. He took his first step on the gangplank and tried to not think about what was to follow.

///\\\\\

_Hiccup agreed that it was only a matter of weeks before Toothless’ tail was fully healed. They’ve been living in the small cove for a little over three months now, and both he and the dragon were getting very fidgety. They were starting to get sick of the same sights, the same sounds, the same foods and even each other’s faces_.

_Hiccup sighed as he brought the bag with fruits he collected over to their camp, further into the forest. He opened the sack and fished out a ginger colored, round fruit that he started peeling. He quickly found out that the inside was much more delicious than the outside. He wasn’t sure what it was because it resembled nothing in the archipelago, but it was tasty and refreshing and that was all he cared about. _

_Toothless was lounging in a nearby sun spot, wings extended lazily and not in the least the dignified image of the ‘offspring of lighting and death itself’. He opened an eye as the sweet scent drifted his way but didn’t move a muscle._

_“You can’t survive off that for long.” He huffed._

_“If you wouldn’t eat all the fish, I wouldn’t have too.” Hiccup was quick to snap, reaching for another one._

_Toothless growled half-heartedly. “My fish!”_

_“That _I’ve_ caught!”_

_They glared at each other._

_The dragon rolled his eyes, something he’d picked up from the human and that he liked doing all the time now. “How long do we have to stay here?” _

_“Until your tail heals, which I estimate would be in a few weeks… as I’ve told you in the morning.”_

_“There’s a town nearby.” He was rolling on his back, stretching on the floor while watching his friend. “Let’s go there for a bit.”_

_Hiccup shook his head. “Too dangerous. We have no idea where we are or how the people would react to you.”_

_“Maybe they’ll worship me.”_

_“No.”_

_“Why not? I’m glorious!”_

_Hiccup stopped eating to stare at him blankly. _

_Toothless flipped back on his belly, frills standing up in confusion._ _“What?”_

_The former heir pinched the bridge of his nose. “I’m not even gonna go there. The point is, you’re very noticeable. You’re huge! People will definitely see you, especially in broad daylight.”_

_The dragon frowned, head frills lowering with displeasure. “I won’t be seen unless I want to, Hiccup.”_

_“I can believe that during the night, when you have the sky and the darkness to blend in with but not here – ” He motioned to the bright green, sun filled forest around them. “ – and not now… Sorry, bud, you’re not _that_ stealthy.”_

_“Is that a challenge?” Hiccup raised an eyebrow. Toothless stood up, stepping closer to him. “I bet I can sneak up on you ‘right here and right now’…” He mirrored Hiccup by waving his claws around them. “For a whole day. What do you say?”_

_It was proof of how bored he was that Hiccup stood up as well and offered his hand in a handshake which Toothless clumsily took. “You got yourself a deal.”_

_“If I win, we’ll go the that town tomorrow, okay?”_

_The Viking grinned. “Fine.”_

_“And you’re gonna steal a map.”_

_“W-What!?”_

///\\\\\

_And that’s how Hiccup found himself nursing a bruised leg and scratched palms. He hissed as he slipped his hands in the small pool of sea water. The small lacerations stung and he held his breath as he slowly got used to the pain to the point where it was a mild annoyance in the back of his mind. _

_So maybe thief wasn’t his best career choice. Just thinking about the past few hours in that town made him slouch and grimace over the pool, his face redder than the times he tried to impress/talk to Astrid. A throaty huff reminded him of the one at fault and he glared over his shoulder at the dragon._

_“Wow! That was so – ” Hiccup glared _harder_. “Uncoordinated.”_

_Toothless tried to smile reassuringly. His face wasn’t made for something like that and instead he looked even more smug than he was feeling. “What do you want me to say?”_

_“How about nothing?”_

_“Nothing.”_

_Hiccup groaned. He took his hands out of the water and limped to the nearest rock. “Why don’t you quietly sniff the air for the next hour and leave me alone?”_

_Toothless blinked. He watched the little human wince as he clenched his hands for a while before shuffling over. He was starting to feel bad now. Hiccup noticed him but didn’t say anything. He just let his hands rest on his knees, palms up to let the wounds breathe and scab. Toothless gently pushed his head with his snout and when that didn’t get him a reaction he nuzzled into his shoulder._

_“I’m sorry. I just wanted us to figure out where we are. I’m getting tired of this place.”_

_Hiccup wanted to scratch him but the stinging changed his mind. “I know. You really didn’t do anything wrong anyway. It’s me who’s falling short…”_

_“That’s not true!” Toothless moved around to face him, squashing down on his back legs. “You’re just not used to moving like that.”_

_“Yeah. It’s called sucking at anything physical.”_

_The dragon scowled and almost felt inclined to hit him in the shoulder before reminding himself that roughhousing wasn’t something Hiccup responded to very well. Instead, he pushed himself down even more until they were face to face. “Hiccup, it’s you who’d been doing the heavy lifting since we got here. You tended to me while I was injured and made sure I was warm and fed. You also gave me back my life even before we got here. You did so much for me, Hiccup!”_

_“I’m also the reason you lost your flight, convinced you to face the Queen and consequently got us here to begin with.”_

_Toothless growled butting him in the forehead gently. “Silly human! Shut up and take the praise!”_

_Finally, Hiccup cracked a smile. “Thanks, bud!”_

_“Besides, I can just teach you how to move silently.” Hiccup perked up at the idea. Toothless smiled his gummy smile. “It comes naturally for my kind because we are taught since young to hunt and fend for ourselves. But I can at least try to show you some things.”_

_Hiccup was so glad that he forgot about his injuries and jumped to hug the dragon’s thick neck. Until they started hurting but he ignored them anyway. “Thank you!”_

_Toothless shared his mood and wrapped his wings around him. Yes, he would train his little human, show him how dragons move, how they hunt and how they protect. He would make sure that his friend would have no reason to fear the darkness and that he would be able to defend himself if he ever were to not be around. Finally, they had a set objective._

///\\\\\

The boat kept rocking even after docking. Hiccup was more than willing to jump overboard, on firm ground after a few days of nightmarish sailing. Of course, he was the only one who had that opinion but his mood was shot, his head was hurting and his stomach wanted to leap out of his throat and tap dance to Valhalla. He only threw up once though. At least that much of his pride was saved.

Mystogan was beside him, some distance away from the sailors who were making sure the ship was anchored safely. Rein wanted to come out and comfort him but she settled on murmuring reassuring words to him instead. Hiccup was honestly grateful to her.

If only he wasn’t feeling on the verge of death. He wisely stayed quiet and tried to control his gag reflex as the steadiness of the harbor helped settle his insides. Eret waltzed up to them while his men along with more people from the massive camp beyond helped unload the dragons.

“Everything alright there, mate?”

“He’ll be fine in a bit. Thank you!” Mystogan answered while Hiccup jerked his head in a nod. It could have been a silent heave.

Eret watched them concerned for a bit longer before having to focus his attention on the unloading process. There were six dragons in total, all bound with ropes and leathers and dragged and lifted onto wheeled platforms to be taken further inland. Eret couldn’t wait to show Drago what he’s brought.

After all the dragons were off the ship and prepared to be rolled away a few minutes later, Hiccup finally straightened up. “And that’s why I prefer to fly by myself.” He sighed.

“You can fly?” The small, innocent gasp drew two pairs of eyes to Rein. She blushed and drew back but her dark green eyes still shone with so much awe Hiccup smiled at the little cat.

“Yeah! Nothing beats feeling the wind blow over your face. I haven’t always had problems with vehicles but I’d rather avoid it whenever I can. And since I do something I like, all the better.”

“I like to fly too.” She admitted. “What about you, Mystogan?”

The blue haired mage chuckled. “My magic doesn’t really work that way.” Any further conversation was cut short by angry yelling followed by dragons squawking and roaring.

“GET YOUR HANDS OFF ME!”

“You can put yours wherever you want, I don’t mind!”

Whimpers and more yells came from the ship as the sailors finally managed to drag out a couple of bound Vikings. They pushed the five prisoners over the gangplank, the blonde woman in front bucking and kicking as two burly men tried to coax her forward.

“Hey, watch it!” A dark-haired, stocky youth called as he almost tripped. He gritted his teeth when the sailor pushed him again. “Do that again and you won’t have a hand!”

A snort was his reply as the man shoved him again, harder. Hiccup grimaced when Snotlout’s head connected with the wood. He immediately kicked out despite the bloody gash on his forehead but was rewarded with a foot in his stomach.

“Hey, hey! Enough there, Teeny!” Eret called from the deck, hauling another blonde girl over. She was surprisingly calm and grinning through the whole thing. “You’ll have your chance later, don’t worry lad!”

After all five of them were off the ship, and Snotlout back on his feet and murderous, Hiccup looked them over cursing his luck. They were from Berk. And not only that, it just happened they were the same people who more often than not made his life there as hard as they could without outright killing him. Okay, maybe that was an exaggeration, but what were the chances?

_‘You truly hate me, don’t you?’_

“You know them?” Mystogan whispered to him. He was thankful that he didn’t use his name, even if they were pretty out of the way. He would rather willingly go back on the ship than let them notice he was standing merely feet away from them.

Hiccup pressed his lips in a thin line and nodded. “My tribe.”

“Should we help them?” Rein asked nervously. Hiccup almost felt bad for leaving her so out of the loop but he wasn’t going to start telling her his life story right there. He was too busy cursing every God in existence.

Mystogan shushed her as gently as he could while Hiccup continued to watch his former ‘friends’ as they were pushed and shoved in a line. First and the furthest from him was Astrid. His eyes immediately went to her, how could they not? She was the embodiment of a Valkyrie, so fierce and beautiful even as disheveled as she looked. She was panting from struggling against the men – who were still holding her by the way – so her face was flushed red and Hiccup almost forgot he was angry at life for a few seconds. The fire in her eyes, golden strands of her hair sticking to the sweat on her brow and drawing attention to the sweeps and curves of her nose and cheek and to the full lips dipping into snarls and curses. Astrid Hofferson was the most beautiful woman Hiccup has ever laid eyes on, no matter what face she pulled.

It took more willpower that he would ever admit to tear his gaze to the person next to her. Who was Ruffnut. And who was dreamily watching Eret as he was checking the dragons. There was a story there but considering how a twin was involved, Hiccup wasn’t sure he wanted to know.

Snotlout was scowling next to the female disaster. He looked scary with the blood dripping down his face and over his nose and chin. He was huffing and puffing like Astrid but he was clenching his mouth so tight Hiccup could see dust flying off his teeth as they were grinding against each other. He didn’t seem to have changed much.

Fishlegs was, as expected, trying not to cry. The sweet giant of a man was twitching on the spot, eyes flickering from the sailors to the dragons and to the ice fort ahead of them. His brows would fall into a scowl once in a while and Hiccup could imagine the inner conversation going on in his head. From who to blame, to analyzing the current situation and recapping the events leading to this over and over again. Fishlegs was too smart and competent to hang out with the likes of Snotlout and Hiccup kind of regretted not confronting him about his choice when they were young. Perhaps he could have saved their friendship…

The last one but never forgotten, was Tuffnut. The second half of the second most dangerous walking incarnations of Loki – number one yours truly – was oh-ing and aw-ing over the huge camp dug in the mountain and covered in snow and ice. He was as oblivious to his surroundings as ever.

Hiccup sighed feeling his anger drain away. He may not have liked them much but he wouldn’t sleep well if he left them there. He had to figure out a way to let them escape but he wasn’t even sure what he got himself, Mystogan and Rein involved with. His shoulders tensed as Eret pulled on the ropes holding the Monstrous Nightmare. Mystogan shifted closer to him, his cloak brushing against his arm and they briefly made eye contact. The swift reassurance in his eyes brought some comfort to Hiccup.

_‘I’m here! I’ll watch your back!’_ He felt his breathing easing and the calm settled over him. Whatever was going to happen he would roll with it. A chance _would_ come.

“Get away from my dragon, asshole!” Snotlout pulled against his restraints but Eret merely smirked.

“Not so tough without your beast, aren’t you, dragon rider?” He emphasized his point by kicking the unconscious dragon. Hiccup scowled but couldn’t contain the puzzlement that slipped through at his words. “Not so tough when you’re not in the air, blowing up our ships and messing up our jobs, right?”

“We told you, we don’t know what you’re talking about.” Fishlegs squeaked. Wow, Hiccup didn’t expect him to be the one to talk back.

“Hah! Yakshit!” Eret’s tone was more mocking than venomous, but his irritation was obviously laid out on his face. “You keep saying that! Do you really expect me to believe there is one dragon rider that no one knows about when there is an entire village right in my face? How stupid do you take me for?”

“Do you want a number or a comparison?” Eret and Ruffnut turned to glare at the male twin in unison.

Astrid shoved against one of the sailors, getting in the trapper’s face. “You are a steaming pile of dragon – ”

“Eret!” A deep voice boomed silencing the crowd at the docks. Slowly, a cloaked figure descended from the fort, the men parting to allow him access. The heavy footfalls of Drago Bludvist approached the ship as Eret jumped off the Nightmare and faced his boss.

“Drago, hey! Don’t I have a haul for you! Lots of diversity over here!”

The bear of a man strolled to the trapper, face frozen in a grimace and left arm sinking down with each step beneath his cloak. Eret’s bravado wavered for a moment before he cleared his throat and grandly motioned to present the dragons.

“Over here there are a couple of the beasts, different species just like you want them, four of them actually belonging to these fine Vikings. Just some dragon riders we happened to catch on the way, nothing big.”

Drago’s eyes narrowed as he glanced over the five youths. “All of them?”

“They’re from the Hairy Hooligan Tribe. And apparently they have a lot of dragons on their island.” Eret added quickly, losing the flamboyance.

“And you brought them _here_?” Drago grunted, his temper rising. “How many more?”

“Hundreds! An island full!” Astrid’s shout turned all heads to her. She stepped away from her holders towards the two trappers, speaking confidently. “And they’ll know we’re missing. They have tracker dragons and if you so much as touch us Stoick the Vast will – ”

“He’s alive?”

She paused for a second. “Of course he is! And he’s the greatest dragon master this world has ever seen!”

If one more word was said Hiccup was certain his eyes would pop out of his skull at the sheer audacity of what Astrid was spewing.

Mystogan leaned onto him. “I think I’m lost.”

“Yeah. You and me both.” He paused to process the blonde’s declaration as Eret was trying to placate Drago who was moments away from ripping heads. “She is probably bluffing.” There was no way his traditionalist of a father would stoop so low as to ride a dragon.

“I don’t know…” The mage pondered. “It can’t be all a bluff.”

“I’m pretty sure I know which parts are…”

“Anyway, there is something else that I want to show you!” Pushing Astrid away none too gently, Eret made his way down the riders’ line towards the wizards. As everyone’s attention changed to follow him Hiccup’s only thought was how fast could he jump on the ship and duck.

“_Hiccup_?”

Not fast enough. _‘Should’ve hid behind Mystogan.’_

Eret was still heading towards him, a tiny twitch of his eye showing he heard the question. He didn’t stop though, as he grabbed Hiccup’s elbow and dragged him to Drago, which unfortunately put him very close to Astrid as well. She was speechless so he was safe for a bit.

“This is Hiccup. He’s a Dragon Slayer and he helped us out last night so I asked him to join us since he wanted to meet you.” He _heard_ Snotlout’s jaw hit the floor and he barely smothered a vindictive smile.

Eret was agitated and he kept gripping his shoulder a little too hard but Hiccup forced himself to smile pleasantly at the taller man. “It’s an honor to meet you, Drago Bludvist. I had no idea there was another slayer so close to home. I was wondering if I may speak with you about some things?”

Hiccup was surprised at how even his voice was. His heart was skipping beats and if Drago was as much of a Dragon Slayer as Eret insisted, Hiccup had a feeling he could hear it. But he had to push through, he had to get Drago away from everyone. The man smelled wrong. Like blood and cold and… and insanity. There was something terribly wrong with him.

He saw the moment when recognition flashed in his blue eyes. A jerk of his nose and he knew. So he had _some_ attributes of Dragon Slayer Magic. He nodded and his face returned to that frozen grimace, except his eyes were sparkling. With hope. Hiccup wanted to know what was up with that when Astrid chose that moment to wreck the situation.

“You’re _Hiccup_? _Hiccup Haddock_?”

Hiccup winced when Drago’s eyes widened a fraction. _‘You’re not helping at all, Astrid!’_

“W-What – ” She took a deep breath, wrestled out of the hands pulling her back and stomped to him. “Do you have any idea how much _your father_ looked for you? How – Why – ? You’re _alive_? This whole time – Hey, _let me go_!” Eret took her bound arms and hauled her back and pushed her down. Astrid was beyond words. She planted her foot down, stopped herself from falling over and threw her body up. Her head smashed into Eret’s chin.

It was chaos from there.

With a curse, Snotlout shot his foot out, tripping a sailor behind him and knocking him in the frozen water. Fishlegs yelped but hesitantly pushed another crew member over with his bulk. People were screaming, the conscious dragons were growling and the Nadder was spitting fire through the muzzle holding her jaws locked.

Hiccup turned around to watch the spectacle, not knowing exactly what to do. His eyes grazed over the bound dragons and his claws jolted. He had to free them. The dragons would grab their riders and they would leave while he and Mystogan distracted everyone else. And then he would get Mystogan and fly them away. This was it! He won’t get his answers but if everyone got out alive –

“AAAAAGGHHHHH!”

Hiccup visibly flinched at the bellow. His blood chilled and the very air around them dropped to uncomfortable degrees. Ice spread beneath his feet and he was certain the water under the bridge was freezing over. His head whipped around to the source of the sudden magic and his breath caught in his throat as his eyes fell on the enraged Drago, towering like a mountain over everyone in his rage. Hiccup was unexpectedly reminded of Acnologia.

So _that’s_ why he felt wrong.

The former heir stepped away from the man-turned-monster just as he smashed his bull hook into the ground. The icy boards groaned and cracked under the pressure and the cold intensified. Everybody stopped in their tracks. Mystogan was shielding Rein in his cloak, his hand hovering over a staff on his back. Eret stopped stumbling and was clutching and wincing at his bruised jaw, though the terrified expression on his face said how much he wanted to drop down and curl into a ball. The rest of his crew had no qualms about that, many stepping away and making themselves as small as possible. The Berk Vikings were stuck in various – and some hilarious – attack poses.

“ENOUGH OF THIS CIRCUS!”

Hiccup still recoiled at the deep roar. He was ready to bolt into action any second, whether to attack or to flee he wasn’t sure but the wrongness around the slayer left him disturbingly unbalanced. When nobody moved, Drago lifted his weapon from the deck, the snapping wood and ice echoing loudly in the cavern.

“If you’re all done here…” He glared at his men, the chill sharpening as he looked at each of them until his eyes settled on Eret. “Put the dragons in cages and lock up the nuisances. I’ll deal with them later.” The young trapper nodded so fast his bones cracked.

“And you – ” He pointed to Hiccup with his staff. “Come with me.”

Drago was several steps away before Hiccup willed his body into following. He quickly searched for his guild mate but all he got was a concerned look. Mystogan glanced to the Vikings and nodded. Hiccup left partly reassured that his fellow wizard would watch out for them if worst came to worst.


	4. Lacrima

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello, everyone! It has been a very long time, hasn’t it? Almost a year. Well, the thing is that I haven’t written anything for this story and the only reason I can put out new chapters is because they’re already done. The ending is NOT done, unfortunately, but it won’t be long and it’s only a matter of laziness and lack of motivation on my part. I really need to get my current fics done and I want to. I gave myself until the end of the year to finish at least two out of three current projects.
> 
> So, unless I wasn’t clear, which I’m pretty sure I wasn’t, this story is a retelling of the second movie with the added bonus of Hiccup running away before he faced the Monstrous Nightmare in the ring, ending up in Earthland and becoming a Fairy Tail Wizard. He and Toothless have faced and killed the Green/Red Death. It was mostly an accident on their part, they just wanted to see it but they were spotted and things escalated. That was the flashback in the first chapter.
> 
> And yes, Berk has dragons now. How that came to be? You’ll see. Did Valka returned? Who knows?
> 
> Now, knowledge of Fairy Tail is not necessary. There are mentions and nods but nothing big. Well… except the major end-of-the-series spoilers in future chapters. But I will warn you when it happens. The Midgard-Earthland connection will be explained later on… basically, a lot of things will make sense later on. I’m the kinda writer who doesn’t like to have loose ends. If by the end, there are things that still confuse you it will be because either they escaped my notice or I didn’t explain them well enough.
> 
> In any case, do enjoy this chapter!
> 
> EDIT: 5/10/2020 – More paragraphs; sentence structuring; smoother dialogue.

Chapter 4: Lacrima

_Wisteria Town was a secluded settlement with a population that Hiccup estimated to be at least twice as large as Berk. Most people have lived there their whole lives but in the following month since Hiccup started to be ‘trained’ by Toothless, they made many trips there and noticed a constant flow of new people. Most of those crowds focused on the beach and the impressively build landscape along the cliffs with its wooden lodges and structures excavated into the stone massif. The village itself was built on the top with winding pathways dug into the rock that led to the beach below._

_Hiccup was relieved that the place was as populated as it was since it reduced the chances of anyone recognizing him from his previous failed attempt at theft. And that thought was quite painful to swallow. Never in his wildest dreams had Hiccup ever considered himself in such a position. Sure the idea crossed his mind while running away with Toothless but the notion of a flying, fire breathing reptile always by his side has mostly cleared up the issue of supplies. He could go anywhere and constantly be protected and the woods have been a resource since Gods knew how long. _

_But in their current situation what they needed above all else was information. And said flying, fire breathing reptile was a hard no._

_Toothless said he was getting better in his stealth training. Hiccup was quick to show him the new bruises. Maybe he was too harsh with himself, but Hiccup hardly thought that leaping on boulders or standing still would help him if he was caught. It was a moot point anyway, since the dragon insisted on a test drive. Which was why the two of them were hiding near the side of the only road leading to the town. (Beside the railway, a technological marvel that had Hiccup drooling the first time he saw it.)_

_The former heir had to freshen up a bit before coming. The sight of someone who obviously spent a lot of days in the wild would have drawn too much attention. Not that he could do much about it. He washed up as well as he could in the nearby river, put his hair in a low ponytail – he was afraid of losing his fingers if he tried to cut it – and for the first time, actually tried on new clothes. _

_That he grabbed from some houses that lived further away from the town._

_He wasn’t exactly proud of himself but Hiccup was infinitely grateful for not wearing the same things for months anymore, especially since they were getting smaller. He settled for something simple, a pair of dark brown pants, his old furry boots – which were getting tighter – and a long cream tunic with a ‘v’ collar. He had to bunch up the sleeves to his elbows since they were longer but his mood improved tenfold. _

_Until Toothless pushed him to go._

_Hiccup tried to relax. He hiked the small bag up on his shoulder, thankful he had it on him just to dig his nails into. From Toothless’ experience in the Nest, the more nervous you were, the more obvious you were hiding something. And that was one of the things that gave him away the last time. He hoped with everything he had that some of the stuff Toothless told him stuck in his brain._

_He was walking down the main road, at evening. The small boulder fence flanked the entrance to Wisteria, nothing intimidating or defense worthy, just an indication that pointed out the limits of the town. Next to it was a stone carving depicting its name that was decorated with plentiful blue flowers. It was humble but pretty to look at and it made Hiccup smile at the care._

_He tried to look as natural as possible. He was a simple traveler. Always on the road, he was there only to see the sights of the coastal town. The more he walked, the more crowded it got. The road changed to pavement, a nice, clean cubic pattern, and the small buildings became more elaborate. Flowers and leafy plants were hanging from windows with colorful shutters and people were watching and talking from small balconies. It was all very cozy and so different from the archipelago._

_Hiccup slowly moved away from the area and towards a more tourist heavy side of the city. It was rather easy to spot the foreigners and, along with their large number, the various stalls with trinkets and curiosities displayed and in easy reach. _

_He felt his anxiety spike at the sight. He kept an easy, calm pace as he surveyed the street, eyes never staying for too long on something. He mentally checked his list again: map, first and most important; he wasn’t very confident he could swipe food yet so he wasn’t even going there, but some materials to improvise a bow could work, like twine; paper and something to write, Gods he needed that!_

_He still had some tools left, albeit bent or rusted from their travel there. But he made sure his dagger was at least in good condition. There was no way for him to make another saddle without a proper workspace and he wasn’t familiar with this place to know if they had something like a blacksmith shop, so anything for that was another no._

_His feet carried him for a few more minutes, pausing once in a while to check the booths. It wasn’t until he was closer to the edge of the cliff when a man caught his attention. As well as everyone else’s in the area._

_He was huge, as tall as his father but slimmer, though the ragged black cloak hid his impressive physique, visible whenever he stumbled. He was giggling drunkenly and the crowd parted to let him through, giving him a wide berth due to his waving hands. Years of hanging around intoxicated, violent Vikings made Hiccup immune to such a sight, so he went on his way, ignoring the man’s ramblings and missteps. _

_He passed by him and wanted to check a good map that caught his eye, when a boom shook the ground behind him. Hiccup jumped around to see the source of the explosion and found the man, scratching his head at the table laying pulverized at his feet. The street was stunned for a second before the whispering took over. And the seller began yelling at the man._

_Hiccup blinked confused, and then moved closer. He wasn’t sure what happened but from what he was hearing, the guy momentarily leaned on the stall and then it broke apart into tiny pieces. He looked closely at him. He was so smashed, his face was as red as his hair. And he also had no idea what was going on, judging by the blank stare he was giving the stallholder. The poor vender was getting just as red in the face when the cloaked man started laughing again, waving his hands as if brushing away the whole thing. Hiccup continued to watch the odd exchange._

_“Honestly, who goes around wielding such dangerous magic while drunk?”_

_“I know, right? What if it was a person?”_

_“Think we should tell somebody?”_

_“I dunno, there aren’t many wizards around this parts… a knight maybe?”_

_The constant mumble of the people swept Hiccup’s attention away from the two. Magic? Wizards? What was everybody talking about? He fought to remain quiet and continued to listen. The man was now paying for the damage, eyes squinting at the paper notes and checking again and again if he had everything right, to the seller’s annoyance. _

_In that moment, Hiccup forgot what he came to the town for. His focus was entirely on the man, the _wizard_, haggling for the broken table and making as much sense as an intoxicated person would. When he finally turned to leave, and the people opened a path for him, Hiccup followed. Why? He had no idea, but his curiosity was picked._

///\\\\\

Hiccup followed Drago, ignoring the ball of apprehension twisting in his gut. They left the docks and moved onto frozen land. The fort was built in the glacier and held only carved holes for supplies and storage from what Hiccup could tell. Chains and cages rattled endlessly as they passed. Drago didn’t stop, instead leading him to a cavern near a humongous, metal ship where his quarters likely were.

He took a deep breath of chilly air and decided to dive right in. “So, what’s with all the dragons?”

The man didn’t give any indication that he heard but Hiccup knew better. They almost reached the ship when Drago spoke, soft and gravelly. “To bring peace, one must go to extremes sometimes.”

“By using violence… ?”

The older slayer glanced back at him, blue eyes cold. “That _is_ Viking custom, is it not?”

“Just because we celebrate the battle doesn’t mean that everything revolves around it.” Hiccup tried to keep his tone as polite as he could.

“True. But everyone tends to listen more intently with something hanging over their heads.” They stepped inside the tunnel and Hiccup shook away the claustrophobic feeling setting in. “Being at war for centuries brought the tribes of the Archipelago to a non-aggression pact. A tentative peace that went away when the Queen of the nest was slayed.”

He breathed sharply in.

“I am interested in your tale, son of Stoick.” Drago stopped at a thick curtain, using his uncovered right hand to open the entrance. Hiccup watched him carefully for a second before going in. The room was cool, as with everything else. There were fur and scale rugs covering the walls and floors and a desk with a chair on the far side.

“So am I in yours.” He said, pulling his attention back to the man and to a matter that was nagging him. “Do you happen to know my father?”

Drago smirked. “Not… officially.” He ambled around him to his desk. “I once tried to go about this differently, you see. A long time ago, I met with the Chieftains of the Barbaric Tribes. The dragons were a threat to them, but not to me.” They looked at each other in understanding. “I offered my services, naturally not for free. They denied me. Ridiculed me. So I killed them all.”

Hiccup held his breath. The air changed into a tense stalemate. “Not all of them.”

“Apparently not.”

“So why did you want to talk to me then?” Hiccup asked. His feet shifted to a ready stance, a move which did not go unnoticed.

“I have no intention of killing you, boy.” The ‘unless you push me’ went unsaid. “I have some things to ask you.”

Hiccup nodded obediently. “Likewise.”

Drago regarded him coldly before returning the nod. “How long have you practiced dragon magic?”

Hiccup saw no reason to lie. “About six years.” And somehow, that was the wrong thing to say. Drago’s face darkened.

“Any… odd changes?”

Hiccup suddenly felt on edge. His instincts were flaring, and he learned to listen to them. He was missing something.

“Except the motion sickness? No.” Again, wrong answer. The man was visibly getting more bothered.

“The beast that taught you. Where is it?”

Screw his instincts. That irritated Hiccup. “_He_ is gone. Where are you going with this?”

Drago laughed. A hysteric, unamused laugh that sent ice trickling down his spine. “You are the only one I’ve ever come across.” He hissed quietly. “And you’re _useless_.” The next thing Hiccup knew the table was crashing in the wall. “Nothing you say? There is _nothing_ _different_?”

He stepped away. Drago was spitting mad. His jaw was clenched, veins popping along his neck, eyes shaded with such wrath and his magic! Hiccup was getting nauseous with every second of tasting that foul aura.

“This is _NOT NOTHING_!” He snarled, ripping the cloak off. Hiccup stopped dead in surprise. The left arm, _Drago’s_ left arm, was a mismatch of skin and dark-gray scales. The merging tissues continued down his shoulder until it completely shifted to scales, covering his hand and ending with black claws for fingers. “This was _intentional_! A curse from those vile monsters that _Stoick_ loves so much!”

Hiccup was too stunned to make any sense of his words.

“And then you come here! Someone who could share this pain and say _nothing’s wrong_!” Drago brandished his changed hand in front of Hiccup’s face. “_WHY_? Six years was enough for me, why not _you_?” The man stopped, huffing with absolute rage. Hiccup retreated to the wall next to the entrance, his gaze never straying from the arm.

“I–I don’t… I don’t know – ”

Drago growled. His claws grabbed Hiccup’s shoulder and slammed him in the wall. The wizard couldn’t do anything more than gasp and unconsciously clench his hand around the appendage.

“WHAT DID STOICK DO?”

“W-What?”

“What did Stoick do to stop you from changing?” Hiccup winced when cold magic started to seep into his clothes.

“Ngh! I-I’ve no idea – what you’re, ugh, talking about!”

There was ice forming around the claws wrapped around his shoulder. Drago wasn’t budging no matter how much pressure Hiccup put on him. He didn’t want to start a fight there, in an enclosed space that might be coming down on them at one wrong move. He had to get out.

Drago wasn’t somebody to take ‘no’ for an answer though. The rumbling growl echoed in the room and he pushed him further into the ice, the faint cracklings of the wall going ignored as Hiccup forced his own magic to fight back against the coldness in his arm.

“He sent you, didn’t he?” Hiccup spared him a puzzled glance. “He sent you to kill me! He _made_ you like me so you could kill me and have me out of the way!”

“W-Who are you talking – ”

“_STOICK_! Why else would he be alive?”

He was mad. In every sense of the word. Hiccup tensed his arms and yanked them down. Drago’s claws slid off him with cracking ice and the younger wizard didn’t stop until he was crouched and ready to leap, all the way on the other side of the room. The temperature plummeted. Every breath came with a puff of mist as both of them stopped to take in the other. Magic swirled invisibly around them, though the growing casing of ice on Drago’s arm betrayed the shakiness of their standoff.

The lack of heat wasn’t bothering Hiccup that much but he wasn’t inclined to stay in it for long. The doorway was to Drago’s right. No matter how fast he was, there was a high chance that Drago would draw the ice up and either impale him or cover the exit entirely. If he would use a shield to protect himself, he would still be covered by the small avalanche in the tunnel. He had to get Drago away from that spot and use the opening to run.

“I wasn’t sent here by anyone!” He said clearly. Drago huffed, unimpressed. “I left Berk, I left my father seven years ago. I have nothing to do with them anymore.”

“Then _why_?” He dropped the bull hook into the floor angrily. “Why isn’t it affecting you? It’s supposed to happen to all who learn dragon magic!”

Hiccup’s eyed widened. “Who-Who told you that?”

“The _monster_ that cursed me!” Drago spat. At his stunned silence, the man sneered. “What’s wrong? Did your beast hide that from you?” He scoffed. “It doesn’t matter anymore… Once all dragons are under my control the world will not have to live in fear of them.” He eyed Hiccup, that spark of madness shining with a glint of cunning. “You could help me, boy! With your power and reach we could have the tribes bow to us with hardly any bloodshed. We are the true Dragon Masters, not those wannabes playing riders.”

Hiccup leaned back on his heels. “We could… but I have the feeling you’re not the sharing kind of guy.” He smirked at Drago’s grimace.

“You’re right! I don’t share with people that lie to my face. There is something you’re not telling me. I’m not speaking about the changing! The masked man that was with you. I could smell the magic around him. Different, but still magic. Where is he from?”

Maybe Hiccup was growing tired of the conversation, or Drago’s mood swings, or he just had problems with listening to strong, buff men in positions of authority. Nevertheless, he didn’t feel sorry when he blurted out. “Did _your_ beast hide that from you?”

///\\\\\

After Hiccup and Drago left the docks, everyone breathed a sigh of relief.

“What in the name of Hel was that?” Yelled Tuffnut.

“That was my boss.” Eret winced, both from the pain and the close call.

The twins looked at each other. “Wicked.”

Eret grumbled under his breath at them before turning to his crew. “Anyway – ”

“How do you know Hiccup?”

The trapper groaned. The blonde was again all up in his face and demanding. Ignoring the ‘Back off, Astrid’, from the other girl, Eret sneered down at her. “I don’t have to tell you anything. Alright boys, let’s get these dragons aboard.”

The sailors who didn’t take a dip in the ocean moved to the carts of submissive looking dragons. Others grabbed the Vikings, hauling them without any patience left towards the fort. There were grunts and curses and far too slow of a progress for Eret’s liking. Still frowning and with his mood diving, he stayed behind to wait for Mystogan.

“Any chance you’ll explain that episode?” He griped.

The cloaked man shrugged. “It’s not my story to tell.”

“Oh, for the love of – I’m not familiar with the goings-on of the Archipelago, but I’m gonna take a wild guess and say that Hiccup is from the same tribe as those muttonheads.”

It was a bit unnerving how there was no reaction from the man. He merely closed his eyes. “Hiccup willingly chose to leave his tribe a long time ago. He has no connection to them anymore.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yes! The only reason we came was to meet Drago Bludvist. That’s all.” They looked at each other for several long seconds.

Eret finally nodded. “Okay. I’m the one who brought you here, so if things go south the blame will fall on me. You get that, right?” Adding a bit of his cheerful charm, the tension begun to ease, although Mystogan averted his eyes briefly. “So I count on you to behave and not piss anyone off, okay?” The mysterious man wordlessly agreed after a few seconds.

They were approaching a large, metal battleship. Beside it, was the ever-present spot of bubbling water. Eret didn’t know what could possibly be down there but few things were impossible for Drago Bludvist, he learned. The procession climbed the bridges to the wide deck and Eret was again giving orders.

Mystogan stayed behind, watching as the men worked. The Vikings were putting up a fight once more, so the wizard decided to stick close to them. He approached one of the steel domes, where the sailors were pushing a dragon, and that was closest to where the group was.

“Do you think Hiccup is fine?” Rein asked quietly.

She was trying not to panic, and the laid-back talk they had after getting off of Eret’s ship made her relax a bit. Of course, her peace of mind was shattered once Drago came into the picture but she really was trying not to melt into a panic attack, and Mystogan appreciated her resolve.

“Hiccup is a powerful wizard. And if there is one thing I trust him with is not to start a senseless battle.”

“He seemed very… agitated by that man.” It spoke about Drago’s presence that Hiccup took so long to compose himself that even Rein noticed.

“There is something odd about his magic, yes.”

“He’s evil.” The haunted look in her dark green eyes looking up at him said it all. She was clearly reminded by something, something not very pleasant if Mystogan read her concerned demeanor correctly. As much as he wanted to ask, he refrained, and focused back on the men dragging the bound creature inside the dome and the Vikings in the hold.

“Whatever it is, I trust Hiccup to control himself.”

“Do you?” She blinked dubiously at him, whatever was bothering her, forgotten.

“What do you mean?”

“I don’t know. But when you talked to Eret you were, uh, nervous?”

Mystogan had to give the little cat some credit. Yes, he was nervous, but not for Hiccup’s safety.

“It’s just that… Fairy Tail wizards tend to be over the top.” He wasn’t the type of person to stumble on his words, but describing his magic guild to someone who barely knew what was going on in the world was difficult. Especially since she had no margin to compare to, and Fairy Tail was something one had to see in order to believe. “Fairy Tail wizards are recognizable, a lot more than others in fact, but for the wrong reasons. Kind of.”

Rein blinked confused eyes at him. “You mean, for bad stuff?”

“No, nothing like that! Well, it depends on where you stand.”

“I don’t get it.”

“Just you wait.” Mystogan breathed. He hoped it wouldn’t get to that. But no matter how little collateral damage Hiccup did on his missions compared to his fellow guild mates, it was still collateral damage. The prince might have done his best to stay away from the guild hall but he was still paying attention to the news.

Yes, Hiccup was just as reserved as he was. And he was very careful and intelligent. It was one of the reasons why he was so successful even working solo. But Mystogan was starting to call it the ‘Fairy Tail effect’, because no matter how well one does in the beginning, everyone succumbs to their guild’s penchant for destruction. He, himself, wasn’t an exception. And neither was Hiccup.

And as if the universe was proving him right, a cave further away from their ship exploded in a rain of ice and steam. Everybody stopped what they were doing. Eret was already at the railing and watching the glacier crack and fall apart in bewilderment.

Mystogan touched Rein’s arm under the cloak, suddenly very alert.

“Do you think you can release those guys?”

The cat looked at him like he was crazy. “Now? Wasn’t I supposed to stay hidden?”

Mystogan frowned. “I think we’re beyond that.”

“O-Okay then…” With some reluctance, she jumped down, running as fast as she could to the door where the Vikings and the sailors stopped. With everyone’s attention towards the glacier they missed the small figure darting underfoot.

“I will see your end with my own eyes! _YOURS AND YOUR FATHER’S_!” Drago’s roar was like a shower of cold water for all of them. Mystogan joined Eret at the railing, along with the majority of his crew. The ground exploded in a white avalanche and their faces were assaulted by a freezing wind and bits of sharp, flying ice.

The wizard noticed, between shielding himself and watching the trappers gawk, that the Vikings were pretty much left alone and that Rein had already started untying them. And then he saw Hiccup. He was shooting out of the storm like a bullet, straight for the ship. As the snow settled, they could make out Drago’s shape further back.

“_DON’T LET THEM ESCAPE_!”

Mystogan grimaced. Eret turned to him incredulous.

“You said – ”

“I’m sorry! You were very nice to us so don’t take this the wrong way.” His elbow snapped up, nailing Eret under the chin again. With a choking sound, the older boy fell back, his attack going unseen due to the much more frightening spectacle ahead. A shriek behind him cause him to turn in panic. It wasn’t Rein, but the blonde woman with a helmet was rushing towards him – no wait, towards the unconscious man he just hit.

“Eret, son of Eret, have no fear, my dear! I am certified in the medicinal ways!”

Before he could blink, the short black haired boy was dragging her back. “Are you crazy, we gotta get our dragons!”

“Don’t stand in the way of love!”

“What love, he’s the enemy!”

“But oh, the tragedy of war is never ending!” The other helmeted blonde, which Mystogan now noticed was a male, probably siblings, appeared next to them, waving his hands dramatically. “For such is the fate of star-crossed lovers! Thy end!”

The girl heaved a melodramatic sob. “No, thine beginning!”

“We don’t have time for this, you numbskulls!” The shorter boy screamed.

The ship suddenly lurched. The water at the front rolled all the way to the deck, splashing the domes, the crossbows and the cannons littering the space. Everybody tried to stay on their feet while the ship pitched, the chains holding it down grinding with the force of the movement.

“MYSTOGAN!” The wizard in question stumbled back to the railing. He had to suppress a smile at his friend’s unwillingness to get on board. “GET EVERYBODY IN THE AIR!”

“_Hiccup_?” The black haired boy was next to him, looking down at Hiccup with a mixt of amazement, confusion and anger.

He could see the conflict in Hiccup’s eyes before the collapsing ice caught his attention. “GO! NOW!”

The Viking gulped when Drago revealed himself, growling and swinging his bull-hook and sending more ice spears flying through the air.

“That would be a good idea.” Mystogan said and he heard a squeak next to him which he chose to mean agreement.

The two took a hold of the twins who were fussing and/or poking at Eret and stumbled their way towards the rest of the group and Rein. The cat was clinging to the bigger Viking, who also clung to her and looked seconds away from a mental breakdown. As the vessel finally settled over the rowdy waves the other girl, who Mystogan assumed was the leader, released the last of their dragons.

“Hiccup said we should get in the air.” She and him made eye contact and her face clouded over with too many emotions to identify on the spot.

The wizard didn’t let anything betray his anxiety and instead stepped closer to the blond young man and stretched his arm for Rein. The boy yelped when the cat jumped out of his arms and perched on Mystogan’s shoulder.

The fierce woman nodded. “Get in the saddle and shut your traps unless you want me to do it myself.”

Mystogan couldn’t say he disapproved of her tactic considering the speed at which everyone, including the twins, obeyed. The short young man from earlier told him to get on his dragon. Mystogan nodded and leaped on its back, behind the wings, and gripped one of the dorsal spines flowing into its tail. With another shout from the woman, all four dragons and their riders were safe in the embrace of the sky.

“Wait! What about Hiccup?” The plump young man on an even plumper dragon said.

The leader of the group scowled. “What about him?”

“Would you just give it a rest, Astrid?” The black haired rider glared at her.

The wizard decided to intervene. “This is not a good time for this. We need to get out of here before the whole cave collapses.”

The falling bits of ceiling were immediately noticed and the group swerved around them, but remained in the same general spot. The blonde, Astrid, growled in a manner unbecoming of a woman, and then she dived back to the fort, calling over her shoulder. “_Fine_! Go ahead!”

///\\\\\

She was in a bad mood. There were no words to describe how much she wanted to turn Stormfly around and let that idiot die for good. Everything was such a mess, and to make it even more chaotic, as was his meaning in life, Hiccup had to reemerge from whatever rock he’s been hiding under and tangle the situation even worse. Whatever sliver of hurt and happiness she felt when she first laid eyes on him was squashed, flattened, completely vaporized by the realization that _he left_! He abandoned them! His father, his tribe, his birthright! That was a coward’s choice and she would _never_ let him forget that. Ever!

She gritted her teeth as the wind blew ice powder in her face. Her eyes blinked the tears away but she urged her dragon to go faster, deeper into the raging storm beneath. She heard beastly snarls and shattering crashes but her view remained white and cold, until a sudden gust of air almost threw her off her saddle.

She swallowed the scream and her hands clutched the reins tighter. The snow was clearing a bit and that was all she needed. Stormfly might as well have read her mind because she pounced without any input from her. There was a fleeting spot of green on white and then they were going up. She took joy in that almost silent gasp.

It didn’t even take two seconds for them to fly away from the fort, and away from the shade of the cavern. The rest of the group was waiting up ahead, in the clouds, and Astrid guided Stormfly in their direction but not before smirking viciously. She patted the dragon’s neck and hummed as if asking for her opinion. The Nadder thrilled back.

A jerk of powerful legs and Hiccup was thrown up. The scream was beyond satisfying and if Astrid had less control over herself she might have doubled over in laughter. Stormfly kicked off below him and he landed behind Astrid. The sudden yank on her hood wasn’t even enough to dull her grin.

“I sincerely hope you’re in a better mood now.” He complained.

“Marginally better.”

She heard him shuffle behind her before one armored hand lightly held her shoulder. She guessed he wasn’t doing more than that and rightfully so. As the dredges of her small revenge faded, they joined the others and she motioned for them to follow.


	5. Reminiscence ~Sorrowful Soul~

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello! I’m back and I will continue to be back for the next two months at least. As I’ve said, I’ve got most of this story figured out, I just need to finish the last two chapters and luckily for me, NaNoWriMo is coming up!
> 
> So, this chapter and the next one kinda go hand in hand. This is finally the moment when Hiccup and the rest of the Berk kids reunite and they start to exchange stories. This is Hiccup’s side and next will be Astrid. And sprinkled in will be plot and character progression.
> 
> I’m very grateful for the people who commented and gave this story some love and attention. I understand it cannot be easy to be thrown into a crossover so unprepared like I did to you. Now that I’ve reread the first chapter, it was a bit confusing and had little explanations of the ‘Fairy Tail’ universe. I’m thinking of going back and revising it at some point. But not right now…
> 
> I don’t own either of those two franchises! I’m just an obsessed nut after all!
> 
> EDIT: 5/10/2020 – Added narration; smoothed transitions.

Chapter 5: Reminiscence ~Sorrowful Soul~

They didn’t speak during the flight. Hiccup tried to keep his eyes on the sky, aware of any odd movement that might indicate an attack. That… and he didn’t want to look at the other Vikings. It was awkward enough having to sit next to Astrid when he could smell the resentment rolling off of her and feel the stiffness in her shoulders. He was actually surprised that the twins were quiet.

The constant flap of wings and slicing air, the waves of the ocean bellow and the screeching of the birds was a symphony that Hiccup missed more than he realized. The group continued like that for a few more minutes and he started to relax and get lost in that familiar feeling. It was so nostalgic, and for those few moments, Hiccup forgot about everything. There was only the sky, the sea and the open horizon calling for him.

When the Nadder angled into a dive, Hiccup blinked away the daze. He felt an uncharacteristic loss before he buried it as everyone descended on a small forested island. Or rather, a mass of earth rising among the waves that happened to have some trees on it. The area was big enough to house four dragons and a couple of humans as well as a sharp rock jutting upwards that shaded half of the outcropping.

The riders jumped on the shingle beach, letting their dragons stretch and wander in search of fish on their own. Hiccup took a deep breath of salty air. Mystogan and Rein stepped by his side, taking in the place, but at attention just in case.

Hiccup finally turned to look at his former peers. And quickly stepped back when the blade of an axe almost chopped off his arm.

“You son of a half-troll, rat-eating munge bucket - RAGHH!” Astrid charged again.

Mystogan wanted to intercept, staff half-drawn when Hiccup held out his hand. Rein was covering her mouth with her hands in shock but they both stayed put as the angry woman continued her assault. Hiccup kept dodging her, mindful of the slippery pebbles underfoot.

“Stop running and at least pretend to fight like a man!” She stopped, took a stance and readjusted her grip.

“Is that really what you want?” Hiccup asked, shoving down the Viking related frustration trying to resurface.

“Yes, otherwise, stand still so I can cut your head off and present it to the Chief as proof of your cowardliness.”

Someone whimpered on the sidelines. Probably Fishlegs.

“That’s harsh, Astrid!” Snotlout mumbled.

“Who cares? There’ll be blood!” Ruffnut cheered.

“Wanna make bets? How about a left foot?” Snotlout choked and shuffled away from the twins. Mystogan did the same even if he was already the furthest.

“I think you’re exaggerating a bit.” Hiccup ignored them and instead focused on the lethal shield maiden in front of him.

“You’re alive and clearly on friendly terms with people who enslaved dragons!”

“Did you miss the part when Drago tried to kill me?”

“AND SO WILL I!” She sprang forward, swinging her weapon.

Hiccup almost rolled his eyes. Of course Astrid’s first instinct was to attack the problem. Since Drago or Eret weren’t around, he supposed he was the next best thing she had. With a flash of light, he had Raven in his hand, the sword rising to meet the axe. There was a brief flicker of disbelief on the woman’s face before it disappeared and she pushed against him.

“You’re alive and yet you let everyone believe you were dead!”

“I did no such thing! It’s not my fault you assumed that!”

She huffed. Her blade skated over the sword, sparks flying. Hiccup back-pedaled. He took Raven with both hands and deflected another angry strike.

“Nothing you did led us to believe anything else!”

Hiccup pivoted on his foot, guiding Astrid’s axe to swipe at empty air. He switched his grip on the hilt and aimed the pommel at one of her wrists. She winced at her slacking grasp. She tightened her other hand on the axe and drew it back. It wasn’t as balanced as it could have been but Hiccup had to jump out of her space to avoid a severe wound to his side.

“Why would you even care if I was alive or dead?”

This time, it was him that rushed in. His vertical slash was blocked by the flat of the axe, both of them glowering at each other over the clashing steel.

“Because you’re the Heir, the Pride of Berk!”

There was an odd hitch in her voice. Hiccup gritted his teeth and pushed.

“Yakshit! None of you believed that!”

Her eyes widened when the pressure shoved her back. Astrid let herself fall back into a roll, dodging the falling sword. She bounced on her toes, stretching her leg in a wide sweep. Hiccup saw it coming and stepped to the side, bringing the flat of his weapon in an upward hit. Astrid blocked with the wooden handle. She pushed against the ground and increased the power of her leap, coming down on Hiccup with more force than he expected.

“Your father did!”

What she didn’t expect was for him to also fall back. With a lurch, Astrid was on top of him. Hiccup grabbed her weapon, pushed against her stomach with his knee and the shield maiden was flying over his head to land on her back. Both of them immediately rolled on their stomach and came face to face.

“When I was _five_! After that he tried his best to ignore my existence!”

Astrid punched him in the face. Hiccup couldn’t say he saw that coming. He seized her wrist, claws digging into the leather bracer. She aimed a quick jab at his throat but he was already on his knees and dragging her with him. And then she head-butted him. He turned his head so that she didn’t break his nose but it distracted him enough. Astrid punched him again in the gut, rising on her feet and standing above him. She twisted her arm that was caught in his grip to the side to keep it away, and she kicked him in the chest.

“That. Is. Not. An. Excuse!”

She stomped on him with every word, enjoying every wheeze of pain as he was pushed on his back. She hesitated when his body went limp. That was a mistake.

Hiccup’s leg shot up, nailing her across the back of her leg and hip. She stumbled forward just as he drew his legs to his chest and kicked her in the stomach. She crashed on the ground with an ‘oomph’ and he flipped on his feet.

“I tried _so hard_ to meet up to his standards but nothing was good except that image he had in his head. And I never measured up to that! Never had, never will!”

It became a brawl from then on. Astrid rose only to deflect a punch with her bracer. Hiccup rained blows on her, not giving her a window to retaliate. She quickly learned that blocking was ill-advised. With the added gauntlets, Hiccup’s strikes hurt even through the leather coverings. She settled for evasion, ducking and weaving between his arms as she backed away more and more. She had to get the upper hand.

“_That’s_ your problem? Oh, boohoo! You’re not the only one who had to go through that! Grow up, you baby!”

She saw him get angry. Angry meant sloppy. She exhaled, minding her feet over the gravel. She saw her chance when he went for an overhand punch. She stepped inside his guard, blocking his arm as she did. Her foot snapped at his knee. He cried but didn’t go down, so she followed it with a sweep kick. He caught himself on his other leg. Astrid ducked under his arm to get away. She choked. The metal ring that held her shoulder pads and her hood was pressing in her throat.

He growled. Low and animalistic. And like Drago. Astrid blindly threw her elbow back. It connected with his shoulder and the grip loosened. She noticed a quick flash of black and her arm was up on instinct. Three tears on her bracers appeared as Hiccup flexed his fingers. None punctured skin but Astrid had half a second to realize that angry didn’t always mean defeated.

“There was no point! Nothing I did was ever enough. Or good, or worthy!” She was putting distance between them right away. “So for once in my life I decided to do what I wanted!”

He launched himself with a roar. Astrid’s chest was moving fast with exhausted breaths. Her eyes roved over the beach. She saw her axe to the side, out of her reach but she had to get to it. As the claws came down, she rolled and then turned it into a somersault. She watched with large eyes as Hiccup’s gauntlets demolished the rocks where she was and almost forgot to pick up her weapon.

They remained locked like that for a few seconds. Panting and dirty from mud and water, the two stared at each other. Fear, confusion and betrayal swam in light blue eyes. Bitterness, hostility, hurt was mirrored in forest green.

“So what _did_ you want?” She grated, fingers twitching on her axe.

Hiccup sighed. His eyes flickered to her arm. The slash that she barely dodged. The one that could have cut through skin and bone in the blink of an eye. His body deflated and the anger faded, replaced by shame. He didn’t answer as he turned and walked away.

///\\\\\

After Hiccup and Astrid had all their frustrations released and out in the open, the rest of the group – at Fishlegs’ insistence – went to start building a camp. They didn’t talk, even though Hiccup saw Fishlegs holding himself back and glancing to Rein and Mystogan every few seconds. The twins were also very interested in the new faces and as much as Snotlout tried to act aloof, his eyes were betraying his curiosity.

Astrid… She ignored him the entire time. But she watched Mystogan and Rein with suspicion.

They retreated at the base of the giant rock, around the flickering of a small fire. The dragons helped drag a few logs around the pit for everyone to lean on, and then stretched around them, shielding them from the winds. The stress level was high and nobody wanted to be the one to break the ice.

Hiccup, Mystogan and Rein were staying right in front of the stone wall, with the Vikings spread out towards the beach and next to their respective dragons. Some fish were slowly cooking over the fire.

The former heir was straining to breath steadily. After the adrenaline wore off, his body was all too insistent on reminding him of its injuries. Figures that he didn’t get a scratch from Drago but at the hands of a Berkian instead. The Gods loved to play him for a fool, as always. He didn’t bother to check beyond a mental scan but his chest especially must be all kinds of colorful shades. And the right side of his face as well. He took satisfaction in the fact that Astrid was just as messed up as him. Plus, if the Moon was shining on him he could absorb enough magic to speed up the healing. Being a Dragon Slayer had its perks.

With a seemingly half-awake gaze, he watched the others. The twins were keeping a close eye on the food. Probably had a bet going on among themselves or something. Fishlegs was twiddling his fingers and alternated between petting his Gronckle, shooting worried glances at Astrid and then inquiring ones at the purple cat. Snotlout was staring at him. He had a curious look on his face and Hiccup couldn’t figure out if he was happy about his return or if he was planning his death. In contrast, Astrid was avoiding him. She was huddled up close to her Nadder, eyes lost in the flames and fingers trailing the rips in her right bracer.

The contentment abruptly transformed into guilt. He could have seriously injured her. He hadn’t found a material that his claws couldn’t scratch or outright cut yet. If he had been any more upset, she probably would have cradled a stump. His mouth worked to form an apology but he couldn’t make it go past his lips. The sour taste of failure forced him to close his eyes.

He focused on his breathing again. With each inhale, his chest burned and he welcomed it. In a way he did deserve that beating. Astrid had a right to be furious with him. Despite his status as a runt and useless heir, he was _still_ the Heir of a tribe. His decision to leave was abrupt, a spur of the moment thing caused by fear of his father’s disappointment. He chose to be selfish and sacrificed his own people to his desires. It didn’t matter if they hated him before. His choice proved that he failed his father. All the lectures, all the lessons that Stoick tried to pass on to him, to teach him, to mold him into his successor, he spat on it and threw it all back in his face. Astrid’s assessment was fair and he had to give her that.

“You’re right… I am a coward.”

Mystogan’s head spun in his direction sharply.

“Glad we got that out of the way.” Astrid’s voice rang in the stillness.

“That being said…” He continued. “I’m not coward enough to let Drago Bludvist turn the archipelago into a sea of blood. Home or not home. If you want our help, we’re gonna have to know more about the situation.”

“What makes you think we want your help?” Snotlout mocked. “We’ve got plenty of things done, just the five of us.”

“Did you not see the size of his army?” Fishlegs hissed in disbelief.

“Or how he whipped out a storm inside?”

“Or how he could snap you in two with one arm?”

“Or how he threw those ice spikes with one swing?”

“Or how he made the ceiling collapse with his booming voice?”

“The last one did not happen!” Snotlout scowled at Tuffnut.

“Or did it?” He was suddenly in Snotlout’s face and eye balling him weirdly. The short young man pushed him away with one hand.

“Stop that, you moron!”

The twins cackled, sharing the grilled fish.

“What was that anyway?” Fishlegs pulled everyone back to the matter at hand. “Also, there was something under the ship when they took us there. Large diameter bubbles, I’d say massive lungs. Cold water, deep dweller… I'm thinking class 5 leviathan, maybe 6. It started going crazy when Drago did uh, w-whatever he did.”

Astrid’s face tightened at that. Hiccup wasn’t sure what he was talking about.

“What Drago did was magic. More precisely, he was using ice magic.” He decided to tackle what he knew and that was informing them of exactly the amount of trouble they were in. “The three of us can also use magic, though different types.” He wanted to smirk at their awed and skeptic expression.

“I’ve never heard of anything like that.” Jeered Snotlout because, why not? “There’s no way I’ll buy something as ridiculous as – “

A dull purple flame like energy ignited in Hiccup’s palm. Snotlout’s mouth clicked shut. Fishlegs forgot all about his reservations and crawled near him to watch the wisp. The twins dropped their food and gawked. Astrid hid her reaction far better and settled to only stare thoughtfully.

“Whoa! Is this fire? Why is it cold?” Fishlegs stretched his finger over it, feeling the missing warmth he expected.

“I am keeping it cooler so it doesn’t hurt you.”

Fishlegs looked at him with a tiny, grateful smile, which Hiccup returned. “Can you regulate its temperature?”

“Of course. I can make it hot enough to melt skin just by proximity.” The blonde gulped but the wonder in his eyes deepened to an urge to know. Hiccup chuckled. “This is Aurvandil's Fire, basically.”

He caught Mystogan lifting a questioning eyebrow. Astrid scowled. And if the twins didn’t stop their eyes from widening they would come out of their sockets any second.

Tuffnut suddenly stood up, shoved the giddy Fishlegs out of the way and dropped on his knees in front of Hiccup. “Teach me your ways!”

Ruffnut joined him. “Bestow upon us the chaos of Loki!”

“Guys, this has nothing to do with Loki!” Hiccup cut off the magic flow, rolling his eyes at their antics.

Ruffnut sprang up to look at Mystogan. “Can you do stuff like that?”

Hiccup saw the taller wizard fight to not lean back. “My magic is more illusion based. And Rein can fly.” He added when she turned to the little cat, cowering behind his shoulder.

“Wow, that’s lame.” Laughed Tuffnut. “Though there’s pranking potential…”

Hiccup almost strained a muscle holding back his amusement. If only they knew.

“How did you learn magic? Where did you go? Can you show me more? Where are you guys from? And, I don’t mean to sound rude, but what are you?” Fishlegs was dying for more information. With the dam of silence now broken, he could barely contain himself. Hiccup pushed all three of them back.

“I will explain everything.” He specifically looked into Astrid’s eyes, conveying without words his previous unspoken apology. “Everything.”

She barked at Fishlegs and the twins to get back to their places and nodded at Hiccup. “Go ahead.”

“Ok…” Hiccup took a deep breath. He wasn’t going to make this long, he also had his own questions to ask. “So, you remember before we started Dragon Training? There was a raid and I said I shot down a Nigh Fury?” Fishlegs and Astrid gave tentative nods, Snotlout’s scowl deepened and the twins shrugged. “Well, I shot down a Nigh Fury. I found him in the woods, injured and while he stayed there we became friends.”

The dawning realization on Astrid’s face was priceless. “That’s why you got good in the Ring?”

As much as he wanted to admit it, he didn’t want to start another brawl. “When I was chosen to kill the Nightmare,” Snotlout winced for some reason, “I didn’t know what else to do. There was no way I would have killed the dragon and I couldn’t put Toothless in danger any longer so we left. Released the rest of the dragons that night too.”

“Toothless?” Astrid narrowed her eyes playfully. Hiccup would say she was as playful as a venomous viper.

Hiccup grinned. “Retractable teeth.”

“You released the dragons?” Snotlout asked, serious for a change.

“That’s what I said.”

He stared at him conflicted. “Thanks.” Hiccup blinked.

“Oof! That must have been hard. All that honesty.” Tuffnut bumped his shoulder. Snotlout shook him off.

“I would do anything for Hookfang.”

The Monstrous Nightmare huffed behind him. His glowing, amber eyes stared at Hiccup and that’s when he finally took a closer look at them. All four of them seemed familiar now that he could see them better.

“Hold on! What do you mean by that…?”

Snotlout smirked.

“Funny how fate works, huh?” Fishlegs laughed scratching the Gronckle lovingly behind the ears. Hiccup caught on to his allusion and couldn’t stop the disbelief from showing on his face.

“R-Really? How did you – ”

“Come on, keep going.” Astrid called, all smug while the Nadder preened.

Hiccup did _not_ want to keep going. He had no idea what happened to the dragons in the ring after he released them, but to see them again, friends with the very people that wanted to learn how to kill them seven years ago? Fate really was funny indeed. He was very curious about that story.

“We spent some days just hopping from island to island. We saw raids and fights between Vikings and dragons and then Toothless showed me the Nest. There was this huge dragon Queen, directing the rest to gather food for her. She saw us and, well, things snowballed from there. We ended up killing her but we crashed into the ocean – ”

Fishlegs gagged on a piece of fish.

“Whoa, whoa, whoa! You can’t just casually skip over a bombshell like that!” Screamed Ruffnut.

“Yeah, we like, need to comment and be impressed and stuff!” Tuffnut added.

“We saw the remains of that thing!” Astrid said surprised. “In the spring, when the mist of Helheim’s Gate cleared, we sailed straight to the island.”

“You stopped the raids?” Snotlout couldn’t seem to decide between being uncertain and reverential. “_Hiccup_ stopped the raids, Hookfang!” He settled on uncertain due to the total absurdity of the fact. The dragons raised their heads, now paying more attention to the story.

Hiccup sighed. “As crazy as it is, it’s the truth. And if you don’t believe that, then there is no point to continue with the next part.”

“What? Did you shake hands with _Thor_ next?” Snotlout’s high-pitch yell would have been amusing in another situation. Astrid kicked him in the leg, shutting him up.

“I’m not sure how it happened. All I know is that Toothless saved us and I woke up on a beach, far different than anything in the archipelago. Later on I learned that it was an entirely other realm, called Earthland.”

As he expected, five jaws dropped.

“You traveled to another realm?” From her tight voice, Astrid was fighting to keep her cool.

“I’ve never heard of Earthland…” Muttered Fishlegs.

“I can attest to that.” Mystogan interjected. When he had everyone’s attention and acknowledged Hiccup’s small sigh gratitude, he continued. “Personally, I come from a world called Edolas. I have been living in Earthland for almost seven years and I met Hiccup about three years ago. Earthland is a realm where magic thrives and people can choose to become wizards and help others in exchange of money. Magic is something normal for the people there.”

“So there are more than nine worlds?” Fishlegs gasped.

“I’m not sure how many, but for certain there are more than we could ever know.”

“And the cat?”

“She’s from Earthland.”

“Okay, let me get this straight.” Snotlout stood up, pacing in front of Hookfang. “You were the first one to train a dragon on Berk, you slew a big-ass dragon queen, you ended up in _another_ _world_ AND you learned magic that can melt skin by _proximity_? Anything else, _oh great one_?”

Letting the ridicule slide off, Hiccup smiled. “Toothless is the one who taught me magic.”

“WHAT?”

///\\\\\

_“My name is Gildarts Clive. And I’m a wizard of Fairy Tail.”_

_Toothless hated him! The man simply strolled up to their home, looked around as if he owned the place and now he was sitting in the rubble of collapsed, charred trees that was their previous battlefield and smiling at them. This was all Hiccup’s fault! That’s what he wanted to believe. If his stupid brother hadn’t insisted on stalking the man for days, using him as an average mount to travel back and forth from the cove to the Wisteria…! If Hiccup hadn’t followed that stranger when he ran in the forest because ‘instincts’…! If Hiccup would have just stayed put and focused on their goals! Ugh, why was he so stubborn and reckless? Stupid human!_

_“Thanks for not destroying the forest.”_

_The dry tone was grating on the dragon’s already short temper. _‘It’s your fault!’_ He wanted to shake him, sat him down like a hatchling and keep him away from the evil, evil world._

_“Actually, it’s yours!”_

_A scorching bullet of blue light crashed in front of the man. The fact that he didn’t dodge, didn’t make any move to get out of the way pissed off the Night Fury even more. The intruder coughed, waving the smoke out of his face, his skin and cloak smeared with soot and dirt._

_“Just saying… I followed what small trail you left behind. Gotta hand it to you though, you’re one stealthy dragon.” Oh, yeah! Toothless wanted nothing more than to make him disappear. The problem was the meddling human next to him. _

_“What do you want?” He snarled. Hiccup was keeping his hand on his arm, his frame having grown three times his friend’s height. He wouldn’t be able to stop him if he went to attack but it worked to remind him to keep a cool head._

_“Nothing really. I just saw a kid being taken by a moving shadow in the woods at night and I got worried. Now that I see you, I was hoping you could help me find someone.” Toothless sniffed. The man, Gildarts, was being honest. There was no irregularity in his heartbeat, no sweat rolling off him._

_“Really now?”_

_“Toothless! Stop!” He looked at the Viking. Hiccup’s voice dropped to a whisper. “He doesn’t seem too bad. And we need information. I think we should talk to him!”_

_“Are you crazy? What if he turns on us?”_

_“I have a good feeling about this. He came here to make sure that you didn’t eat me, after all.”_

_Toothless scrunched his nose, which must have looked funny on him. “A feeling is what made you follow a lunatic into the forest after he ran away from an exploding house.”_

_“And Gildarts saved me… Plus, he said he knew I was following him anyway.”_

_Acid green eyes became round. “Someone forgot to mention that.” They looked back at the man. He was still sitting down and was gazing at the sky patiently. “Alright, but he stays there and we stay here.”_

_“Overprotecting much?”_

_“Shut up, fishbone!”_

_Hiccup cleared his throat, getting Gildarts’ attention. “Okay, if you don’t mind, we have some things to ask of you too. My name is Hiccup and this is my best friend, Toothless.” The man smiled and nodded. “This may sound weird to you, but where exactly are we?”_

_Gildarts blinked. “Well, this is the Kingdom of Fiore. We are on the eastern coast, and not far from here is the Town of Wisteria. It’s a beach resort and a portal town.” At their expectant gazes he added. “This is the continent Ishgar… On Earthland.”_

_Hiccup licked his parched lips. “Have you heard about the Barbaric Archipelago?”_

_“Can’t say I have. Sorry!”_

_“Oh… Well who did you want to find?” He knew he didn’t hide his fading hope well enough from the man but he needed some time to work out his next question without making it seem like they were crazy._

_Gildarts brightened at the change. “I wanted to know if you’ve heard of a dragon called Igneel. A few months back, my guild found his son crying his eyes out in the woods around Magnolia. Poor thing must be nine or ten years old. Said his dad just disappeared one morning.”_

_Even Toothless’ frown softened at that. “I’m sorry to hear that. But we’ve never heard of Igneel. We haven’t even seen another dragon since we got here.”_

_It was the man’s turn to be dejected. “Well, it was worth a try. If you find out something, I can give you a lacrima to contact me with. Is that okay?”_

_“What’s a lacrima?” The question slipped before Hiccup even noticed. He was hoping that the wizard wouldn’t notice but from his puzzled face, he wasn’t that lucky._

_“It’s a magic crystal that is used to communicate with people at distance… How about you guys tell me more on where you’re from.”_

_Even with Toothless’ insistent disagreements, Hiccup still told Gildarts their story. Whether he believed them or not, he had a huge dragon at his side. And he didn’t see another way to settle things since the more he heard about this land, the more it didn’t match anything Trader Johann has passed on to him and the other children. _

_It turned out, he was right about that. And now, some things that Toothless said in the beginning were making more sense. This place felt different because it was an entire different _realm_. They were as far from Midgard as they could be. He was joking back then, he never expected that he would accidentally travel to another world. He wanted to get away from his tribe, but nothing on that scale. How would they go back? They came from the ocean back then. Was the gate to Midgard somewhere in the depths of the sea? Did it close? Would they even find it again?_

_“Oh man!” Hiccup sat down, threading his fingers through his hair. “It’s all so messed up!”_

_Gildarts watched him with troubled eyes. “I’m sorry kid. You could come to Fairy Tail. Maybe we can figure out a way to send you to your world. Master Makarov is one of the Ten Wizards Saints. He knows a lot about magic.”_

_Toothless gently nudged him. One wing came around him, not covering but pressing on his back in a reassuring way. “Is this really a bad thing?”_

_“What?”_

_The dragon laid down next to him, bringing them eye to eye. “Even if we were to return to Midgard, we would be doing the same thing, just wandering aimlessly.”_

_Gildarts seemed conflicted. The pity in his eyes became more obvious and it kind of irritated Hiccup._

_“But we don’t know anything about this world… Earthland…”_

_“And how much do you know about Midgard?” Toothless cocked and eye ridged. “You’ve never ventured outside your tiny island, never mind the archipelago. Unless, of course… you _wanted_ to return to your own someday?”_

_Hiccup clenched his fists. He refused to think about that ever since he left. Berk was slowly becoming taboo for him. He, honest to Gods, had no idea what to do about his former home. Going back meant putting Toothless in danger. But never seeing the edges of that forsaken rock put a dagger of longing in his heart. _

_“You didn’t really think this through, did you?”_

_Hiccup groaned. He buried his face in his hands and sighed loudly. _

_“You could learn some magic in the meantime…” Toothless scowled at the man, though it lacked the initial heat. “I’m serious! If he knew some magic, he would have been able to defend himself against that guy!”_

_Toothless’ rejection fell, replaced by interest. “How?” Hiccup looked up too._

_“Natsu, that’s the name of the kid, was taught by Igneel how to use Fire Dragon Slayer magic. The name is a bit misleading but basically, Slayer magic is a Lost type of magic. As in, really old and powerful. So since wizards who learned Dragon magic were capable of killing dragons back in the past, they came to be known as Dragon Slayers.” He grinned at their acute attention. “Toothless can use magic, so he can teach you how to use his type of dragon magic making you a… uh, I’m not exactly sure what elemental affinity you would have.”_

_“Moon.” Toothless stared at Hiccup as if seeing him in a new light. “Moon Dragon Slayer.”_

///\\\\\

The day was nearing its end when Hiccup stopped his tale. The starlit sky was covering the dredges of orange-pink light of the sunset and the near full moon glided above their heads. Its astral glow was bathing the tiny island and its occupants and Hiccup tilted his head up to it, soaking all of it in.

Astrid felt the smallest thread of jealousy when the twinges of pain littering her arms flared up. From how relaxed he seemed and his words describing how his ‘magic’ worked, she could only assume that the moon had a beneficial effect on him. She sulked in Stormfly’s chest, letting her warmth seep into her bones and sooth her aches.

Hiccup told them everything. Or at least, what Astrid hoped was everything; she noticed that he glossed over some things. In exchange, they also informed the three of them about Berk’s new dragon policy. Watching Hiccup’s face fill with confusion and doubt was as entertaining as it was upsetting. She didn’t expect the slight hurt that came with his skepticism when she told him how the Chief himself agreed to allowing dragons on Berk.

_“That just doesn’t sound like him.”_

_“He hasn’t been himself since you were gone.”_

Now, everybody was getting ready to sleep. Tomorrow morning, they would journey back to Berk and tell Stoick about Drago and hopefully break the news of Hiccup’s return as gently as possible. The twins were part of the team so that was as likely as Gobber taking a bath.

She leaned on her girl, her body unwinding, but refusing to let her forget how hard she pushed herself today. The scuffle with Hiccup came out of nowhere but she couldn’t say she hated it. She always expressed herself better through actions, and the fight helped her get rid of pent up aggression as well as get a feel for Hiccup’s new skills. But if what he said was true, he held back a lot. That was purely a physical confrontation. His true talent laid in his magic ability and beside the brief moment when he crushed the rocks, she didn’t see any of that.

A small part of her felt insulted, but if she was honest with herself she wasn’t sure she could win a battle like that. Just remembering what Drago did at the fort, the force of that typhoon blanketing the ground, blinding and cutting all at once, it was kind of scary to think what wizards were capable of.

She huffed. She was thinking about it too much. Tomorrow was going to be another tiring day, and she was spent. As humans, dragons and cat drifted to sleep, none noticed the shadow splitting away from the rock and taking flight.


	6. Reminiscence ~Awakening Soul~

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don’t own ‘How to Train Your Dragon’ or ‘Fairy Tail’ and I’m not making any profits from this. Not much else to say. Enjoy!

Chapter 6: Reminiscence ~Awakening Soul~

The frozen sight of Drago’s fortress was routine by now. They went wide around the glacier, making sure they weren’t spotted or scented by any sentries or guarding dragons. It was early in the morning, not a time that they usually came around, but she got word that the trappers caught something interesting this time. She didn’t know if it was a new species of dragon, an unfortunate thing that accidentally stumbled upon cruel men, or more weapons of war. In any case, she wanted to scout ahead. Make sure everything was accounted for if they had to intervene.

Her dragon flapped two big wings, quietly and gently, as they climbed around the back of the fort. They swerved and ducked over icicles, taking a wide path that opened in a field of snow. A raised bank flanked the side facing the port and she willed her partner to drop them down. They landed in a frozen spot, her friend taking care not to disturb the light powder too much.

She jumped down, nimbly crawling atop the edge, and careful that her staff remained silent. And then she waited.

It took a while. The fort was silent and empty for the most part. She caught rattling sounds, pained noises and she barely held herself back from acting accordingly. But it was worth it. A ship came to dock. A familiar modified longship with blue and white sails. She watched as the sailors disembarked; some new faces among them, some bearing a crest she never thought she would see again.

And the dragons, oh, the dears! All bound up in chains and leathers that restricted them in any way possible. She just wanted to run there and free them from that pain. Her partner huffed at her back and she loosened her death grip on her weapon. Patience!

She wanted to get closer, at least, but the possibility of Drago noticing their presence was too high. He always seemed to have a knack of figuring out when someone unwanted was around. She stayed where she was, her partner stooping low behind her. One of the new faces, a man in an odd dark blue cloak stood to the side with another one wearing green. The trappers didn’t payed them much attention and neither did she beyond a passing glance. Especially when the Berkians started a commotion.

She didn’t understand much. For a second, her mind blanked when she heard ‘Hiccup’ but she could have heard wrong with all the echoes going around the giant cavern. And then Drago came. Her blood boiled watching that monster slowly make his way to the small trapper ship and then dismissing the whole altercation with that mystifying aura of his. She felt her friend stiffened for a few seconds as the cold spread in the silence.

She didn’t know what it was except some sort of magic. Even so, she would have never guessed Drago Bludvist of all people could be persuaded to learn such an unusual, obscure art. Perhaps it would explain his tendency to find spies and intruders as precisely as he did.

With the crewmates properly terrified and obeying, things settled except the green clad young man was leaving with Drago now. Her eyes narrowed at that but she was quickly distracted when the dragons were dragged to one of the battleships. It took a moment of indecision before she was crawling along the edge for a better vantage point from where she could observe.

She still didn’t understand what she was supposed to look for. The trappers found dragons, mostly native to Berk and surroundings, some Vikings and two strangers, one of which Drago showed interest in. Was that what her fellow nest mates were curious about? She honestly didn’t really care very much about that. The only thing she wanted to figure out was how to release the captured dragons without too much of a ruckus. Maybe she could sneak aboard the ship and once they were preparing for boarding, she could take them out of those ugly cages. She wasn’t very confident with only her partner at her side. Or maybe she could return with a team and attack in the middle of the night. But the dragons were always fidgety when she led an attack to this fort for some reason. They seemed to lose focus and become impatient and agitated.

She breathed exasperated. They couldn’t linger anymore. Her dragon was throwing her brief glances and she knew he was uncomfortable with how long they’ve been around the hunters’ base. It was well into the afternoon already. Her hand tightened around the staff before relaxing. She sighed and crept down the bank gracefully. There really was no point in sticking around. Once returned to the nest she would figure out something for tonight. There was no way she’d leave defenseless dragons in Drago’s hands. As her friend let her climb on his back, that was when it happened.

A deafening explosion of crackling ice and falling snow shook the glacier. The duo tensed and the dragon skipped away from the ledge as spider cracks formed along the edges. Among the sounds of falling debris and roaring dragons there were undistinguished, panicked yelling.

“Now’s our chance, Cloudjumper!”

She urged her partner to take off and he did. Crouched behind his crown, she pulled the mask secure on her face. They circled around the brewing storm, keeping to the shadows as much as they could with everything falling apart.

The water in the gulf was splashing and lurching over the docks, much too perturbed to be because of the unnatural occurrence on land. The frigid air was unbearable, a result of magic unlike anything she had ever seen. Whatever power Drago Bludvist possessed it wasn’t anything human. The though chilled her worse than the pulsing aura hanging in the air.

They were finally in sight of the battleship where the dragons and the Vikings were taken. The enormous iron monstrosity was shaking and sinking among the rising waves, seemingly the most affected by it. Two pairs of sharp eyes scanned the space. The Berkians were releasing the dragons, troubled by the constant movement of the ship. Nevertheless, they were in the air right after and her grip on her staff almost slackened in shock.

They were… Berkians, right? She knew she saw that skull symbol on them. That was the Hoolingans’ crest… right? What were they doing on dragon back? What was going on? Who were those kids?

Her stunned stupor made Cloudjumper pause and duck behind a pillar hanging from the ceiling. Clinging to the surface with deadly talons, he inched around to still see what was happening. But not before turning his head all around to look at his rider. He hummed softly.

The woman instinctively shifted her position to accommodate him. She patted him on the head gently. “It’s quite alright. It caught me off-guard, that’s all.”

They watched the group of… Vikings fly away from the fort. It didn’t take much for her to realize she wanted to follow. Her partner shared the sentiment. They were airborne next, and weaving between clouds a safe distance away from them, making sure they wouldn’t lose them.

///\\\\\

_Island of Berk, 3 years ago_

_“You’ve gotta be kidding me!”_

_Astrid rolled her eyes. She had a good plan. So far it was going well, but it would have gone even better if Fishlegs would kindly cooperate with her. “Just trust me. Or I’m just going to drag you by the ears whether you want it or not!”_

_“What makes you think that’ll convince me again?” He shrieked._

_Thank Thor they were in a forest. The pair of eighteen-years olds faced each other, one disturbingly scared and the other on the verge of a meltdown. The girl racked her hand over her face irritated._

_“Fishlegs, you’re the only one who can help me with this. Just shut up and follow me.” She turned to walk away and judging from the grumbling and snapping gravel and twigs, the plump boy decided the same._

_“Okay, fine. But this better not be another one of your training exercises. I just got done with the rash from the last one.”_

_She rolled her eyes again. “Baby…”_

_The blonde boy continued to mutter and complain the whole way and Astrid was certain it was intentional and revenge for waking him before dawn and dragging him through the thickness of Berks’ forests. It was worth it in the end. Her own heart was heavily conflicted on this matter but her ingrained sense of honor would never let her forget if she would have ignored it instead._

_There were there soon. Astrid skidded down the slope in front of a bunch of huge rocks. She waited until Fishlegs caught up with her and noticed her go down between them, following the trail that led even further down to a small hidden cove near Raven Point. She stepped away from the opening, shaking the dust from her clothes and then surveyed the area. It looked empty._

_Fishlegs crawled out of the small gap with a bit more effort than her but joined her in her surveillance. “Well, we’re here. What did you want from me?”_

_Astrid took a deep breath. “You can come out, girl. Fishlegs’ gonna help you now.”_

_The boy was confused for a second before he heard shuffling sounds. From behind a wide rock, a Nadder pocked its head out. Astrid saw the scream before they even entered the forest, so she moved behind him and grabbed the other’s shoulders, forcing him still. _

_“Stop it, she’s not gonna do anything.”_

_“YOU WANT TO FEED ME TO A DRAGON?!”_

_“No, you dolt, I want you to heal her!”_

_With Astrid’s unforgiving hands holding him down, Fishlegs was forced to watch as the whole dragon came out from hiding. The Nadder was limping as it ambled in front of them, a big darkened cloth wrapped around her back leg from what he now processed was a gash of some kind. His whimpers slowly died but there was no way to stop shaking just because someone told him to. Astrid let go of him and stepped closer to the dragon, despite Fishlegs’ horrified stare. _

_“Fishlegs, this is Stormfly.” She stretched her hand to the Nadder, her eyes never leaving his. His mouth dropped when the dragon limped closer to her and nuzzled her palm, clicking and warbling. “And she saved my life. So please… Save hers!”_

///\\\\\

It was hard for Hiccup to wrap his head around that. The whole story that Astrid and the others told him, Mystogan and Rein was so far beyond anything Berk was capable of, he kept slipping into the mindset that he was being set up. But that didn’t make any sense either because his former peers were definitely riding dragons and being friendly and affectionate with them. So there must have been some truth to their words. As weird and unbelievable as it was.

He almost didn’t want to return to Berk with them but it was too late for that now. Astrid insisted that he fly with her, just to make sure he doesn’t do anything. Hiccup didn’t know what she thought he could do but there was reason to that. He _could_ do plenty, whether she knew it or not. In the meantime, he had time to rummage through the whole story.

The same year he left, after the ice thawed and spring set in, his father organized another raid to the Nest.

_“He looked haunted. We searched the whole island until the blizzards fell upon us and no door could be opened anymore. I’ve heard from my father when he would occasionally meet up with the other men for drinks and catching up. Apparently, the Chief isolated himself in his house for the whole winter and only the Jorgensens and Gobber were allowed in.” _

Hiccup didn’t dare breach that surface. He went for seven years without thinking about his father in depth, but everything wanted to overwhelm him all of a sudden. There was resentment in Astrid’s voice as she accentuated the fragile state of Stoick the Vast in that first year. She wanted to make him feel guilty, he knew that. Well, joke was on her, Hiccup was beating himself up all on his own already.

When they sailed there, to Helheim’s Gate, the mist was gone so the fleet was able to navigate through the sea stacks easily. And when they got there…

_“It was like something out of legends. Everyone said there was a colossal corpse rotting on the beach, bones the size of Berks’ cliffs, putrid water splashing over decaying scales – “_

_“I think I get it, thanks, Tuffnut!”_

The dragons stopped. They noticed it during winter but since it was a naturally damp and harsh time of the year, everyone just counted their blessings. But for the summer and the following autumn, there were no more attacks. That was when they all realized that the war was over. So Berk started to flourish.

_“It was so weird at first. My dad taught me since I was a kid how to kill dragons and stuff and then there were none.”_

_“Don’t kid yourself, Snotlout. At most, he taught you how to gloat _about_ killing dragons.”_

_“Shut up, Astrid!”_

Berk finally opened trade routes with the other tribes after that. The Chief came back to them but there was clearly something different about him. He put all his time, all of his energy into the tribe, he listened and helped the people who asked for a moment from him but nothing more than that. He just stopped socializing outside duty. He was the perfect public figure.

Hiccup felt like she just squeezed his heart.

It wasn’t until years later, when Astrid was sailing with a crew to the Northern Markets, that Berk would finally be reintroduced to the dragons. It was their first time traveling there at the insistence of Traveler Johann. Therefore, even if he informed them in his flowery way about the dangers, they were still caught by surprise by the pirates.

It was a big ship, not native to the Archipelago, bearing a crest of three connected spirals and commanded by a man called Harald Forkbeard. From the way everyone frowned or rolled their eyes, Hiccup assumed they got very familiar with the guy. After a fight, Astrid was captured, their boat left adrift after being stripped of goods and most of the crew either abandoned there or killed.

She was taken to Auction Island, a place where all kinds of scoundrels meet to trade and profit. While there, she met Stormfly and long story short, they agreed to help each other escape. While doing that, the Nadder got hurt by a dragon hunter, but even so, she was capable of flying them both to Berk before collapsing.

_“It was then I realized that Stormfly was the same Nadder from dragon training back when we were younger. She knew exactly who I was, so she was quick to trust me, and she remembered where Berk was located and managed to bring us both there safely… I couldn’t repay her by letting her die.”_

Even if he didn’t say it, Hiccup appreciated that. Along with that, an annoying warmth blossomed in his chest at her sincere words.

A few months passed while Stormfly was healing with Fishleg’s help. Somewhere along the way, Ruffnut was called in since she was learning healing from Gothi. It took longer than necessary for Hiccup to sort through that. As a result, Tuffnut found out and he ended up spilling the beans to Snotlout and that’s how the whole gang got in the know. Stormfly brought Meatlug and she and Fishlegs hit it off immediately but they had to return to Auction Island to rescue Hookfang and Barf and Belch since the people there were harvesting their gel and gas to sell. That was their first mission together and it was completely behind Berk’s back but they managed to pull it off somehow.

A little over a year passed during which, the group was learning to fly and get along with their dragons. It was at that point when they started wondering what to do next.

_“We were thinking about maybe slowly dropping hints to the Chief and the other villagers about accepting dragons. I mean, we couldn’t hide them away forever…”_

Fishlegs’ dilemma reminded Hiccup of his exact situation seven years ago.

_“Fortunately, a chance for the honey and the hatchet soon came up.”_

Astrid told them how, despite the booming state of the village, the Outcasts were becoming problematic. A while back, they started attacking their fishing boats, those who went further into the ocean where they couldn’t go before due to the pending threat of dragon raids. Alvin and his band of criminals were picking a fight with Berk, now that everyone’s priorities have shifted.

It soon turned into open war. The Outcasts managed to sneak on the island later on and they would have overrun the village if it wasn’t for the dragons sniffing them out. The dragons recognized the danger to their riders and flew to stop them from advancing. In order to prevent Stoick and the others from turning on them, the kids joined their dragons and together, as a team, drove away the invaders. Their actions impressed the villagers, but many were still very wary about them.

_“It took an entire year for the people to accept them. Stoick advocated fiercely for their deaths and after that, he was Hel bent on ignoring their existence. It was… scary. He still is very indifferent but went along with everyone once they voted to have them stay.”_

The Vikings of Berk have been living with dragons for nearly a year. There were more now, but not by much. Stoick was very hard to convince about anything dragon related so he just delegated that all matters concerning the beasts would be taken care of by Astrid and Fishlegs. That was how the teens got front row seats to the war with the Outcasts, which was over by now after Stoick killed Alvin and Savage agreed to reenact the truce. After that, the only things they had to deal with was random interactions with Harald’s Tempest Pirates and some dragon hunters that frequented Auction Island and the Markets.

Hiccup breathed a sigh of relief that his world view was not entirely shattered. As he told Mystogan back at Drago’s camp, there was no way his father would agree to let dragons live with them so easily. At the same time, he felt disappointed.

He then asked them about Drago. Nobody knew who he was, or where he and his army came from. Fishlegs theorized that he could be the big boss of the dragon hunters, since they haven’t actually met anyone very high in their hierarchy. The reason they got caught was because they discovered a fort that was blown up and frozen over and that’s when they met with Eret’s crew. Eret had accused them of attacking them and stealing their dragons but they haven’t done any of that.

His confusion grew at that. The way Eret talked to them was as if they have been fighting for a very long time. Hiccup saw no reason that he would lie, especially since Drago was his employer and failing meant consequences. So that meant that there was someone else that was fighting back against Drago’s forces, and the gang just happened to stumble across one of their results.

Guilt washed over him at the thought of the charismatic trapper. Maybe they should have grabbed Eret when they left. He was a nice guy; he was just doing a job. Hiccup wasn’t sure how long he would be doing it after Drago Bludvist was done with him though. His fingers twitched from their position on Astrid’s waist. He made a conscious effort to not move a muscle the whole way but his body was getting stiff with the straining tension.

Why had Astrid wanted for him to ride with her again? Oh, yeah, to make sure he doesn’t run off somewhere… to _where_? They were in the clouds for Gods’ sake, it wasn’t like anything could hide from them.

He tried to take his mind away from the fact that he was basically hugging her. However, his mind was done dealing with the tale of how Berk became a dragon paradise – sort of – and was now bothering him with messages of how soft the hair blowing in his face was. Or how small her body felt beneath his palms. Or how pleasant her scent was. His mind was a creep and Hiccup tried not to jostle her much when he turned his head away –

– to see a horned helmet fade beneath the clouds.

He choked on words, not even sure what exactly to say. He looked at the others but none seemed to notice anything out of the ordinary. For a second he pondered whether he had just imagined it but no. He had a weird feeling, the kind that said something was about to happen. He couldn’t smell anything because the wind was too wild so high up but he knew that they had to get in the open.

“Astrid, we should get out of the clouds.”

The blonde blinked at him. “Why? Don’t tell me you’re getting cold feet, Hiccup. We’re not stopping until Berk.”

“That’s not what I meant. I think we’re not the only ones here.”

Astrid visibly fought to keep her frustration in check.

“Yes, Hiccup, we’re not. There are birds, and maybe other dragons taking a stroll in the sky. Nothing unusual.”

Hiccup shared in that frustration, though it was more urgent as his instincts flared.

“Plus the person that’s been stalking us.”

“What person?”

A swoosh dispersed the air all around them. The dragons halted, flapping their wings in agitation as more dragons begun to circle them, drawing the mist into a cyclone. The Vikings yelled, everyone talking over the others and wondering what was happening. Before Astrid could give them orders, the attacking dragons pounced.

“SPLIT UP!”

Hiccup lost sight of the rest after that. The dragons lunged between them, forcing them to break formation and then started chasing them. Stormfly and Astrid listened to Hiccup and tried to go beneath the blanket of clouds but every time, they were distracted and corralled by stray shots. There were no vital areas targeted, nor their fires were at more than stun capacity, so Hiccup concluded that they were not with Drago and at most they wanted to separate them from each other.

He gripped Astrid’s sides as they bobbed and flipped over the numerous flock. He had no idea where they were anymore, everything was puffy and white and except from brief glances of the ocean he couldn’t have told up from down. He had to admire the shield maiden’s skill at directing Stormfly though. With the Nadder’s instincts and Astrid’s fast reflexes, they were capable of dodging all attacks and slip by whenever one of the dragons tried to catch them in their talons.

But like everything. it didn’t last. A loud beat of wings was Hiccup’s only warning before he saw it dive. _Fast_. The dragon was rust colored with an intimidating red crown around his head and four wings. And on his back was the masked person.

_“Do you really expect me to believe there is one dragon rider that no one knows about when there is an entire village right in my face?”_

“ASTRID!”

The big dragon was upon them in an instant. Stormfly wailed as both humans on her back were ripped away. At the same time, she was hit from different directions by weak breath attacks and could only watch as her best friend was taken further and further.

“STORMFLY!”

The Nadder furiously pumped herself up to catch them but each time she was knocked away, diverted from properly chasing after the four winged dragon. She howled in agony.

///\\\\\

“NO!” Astrid struggled in the claws holding her.

They flew away so quickly, and with the dragons that continued to batter Stormfly there was no chance for her to get closer to them anymore. Hiccup was certain they left everyone behind long ago, which meant that the whole point of the attack was to divide and distract them.

“Hey! What are you doing?” He tried to pry open the claws tightened across his chest with minimal results. “Who even are you?”

Astrid snarled. “Let go of me! I swear to Odin, you’ll pay for hurting my girl!” They didn’t get an answer but that didn’t stop the blonde from thrashing the rest of the way. Or until she got tired.

Hiccup decided to settle in and wait for the ride to end. This was the dragon rider that gave Eret and Drago so much trouble. The one that he mistook for the Berkians. He led an attack against them but the dragons pulled back a lot, mainly resorting to creating chaos and not letting them regroup with a strategy. Hiccup got the feeling that they weren’t in danger and that there was so much more going on with Drago than he initially believed.

Who was this mysterious rider? What was his connection to Drago Bludvist? How could he command an entire flock so effortlessly? One way or another, he and Astrid were going to find out. But not when they were flying above frozen ocean.

///\\\\\

_The air was cold. Storm clouds rolled in during the night over the small cove. Thunder rumbled in the distance and Hiccup, now sixteen years old, was sitting on a boulder on the darkened beach. Alone. That was the norm as of two weeks ago._

_Toothless was… gone._

_He watched the rolling waves flounder over the sky. Everything was gray. No matter how much he searched there was nothing. No trace, no trail, not even a lost scale. With each passing day, the numbness grew more and more until Hiccup felt nothing. The night was cold, but he couldn’t bother himself with going anywhere anymore. _

_He said he would never leave, that they would be together, they would be brothers, just the two of them against the world. That was everything Hiccup needed and wanted. But like every happy thing in his life, the Gods had to take it away. And he was left wallowing in the hurt and absolutely crushing despair that become so familiar and expected in his life._

_Mother gone. Father emotionally absent. Respect nonexistent. Tribe who couldn’t care less. What was his life even?_

_Toothless._

_Toothless was his life. And now, he was gone like everything else._

_Was he that much of a burden? Was his fate to always be discarded and left behind? Was there any point in going on?_

_“A bit too quiet around here, isn’t it?”_

_Right. Gildarts was supposed to come. The red head started checking up on them every few weeks, bringing food and clothes and other things that they wanted. Hiccup felt a bit guilty at first but the cheery man was quick to point out that Hiccup could just pay him back when he would start working as a wizard anyway._

_His throat seized up. The color and liveliness his presence brought was too much for him. When he didn’t answer, the man approached. _

_“Hey, what’s wrong, kid?”_

_Hiccup shook his head. He was afraid that if he talked he would start crying. And it worsened his mood that he didn’t know if he wanted Gildarts to stay or leave forever._

_“Where’s Toothless?”_

_A sob broke out. More thunder stirred the heavens, closer this time. A big hand fell on his head, pulling him into a strong, naked chest. Gildarts’ cloak fell over his shoulder and the thought that it wasn’t a dark, heavy wing was enough to shatter the dam. He didn’t know what he said, his words must have melded together into incoherent babble, interrupted by whimpers and howls of pain. But Gildarts got the gist of it because that was the kind of guy he was. He held him the whole night, even through the storm that ravished the shore and pummeled the beach with thick rain. _

_The one thing that Hiccup was reminded of was when his father used to carry him through the village when he was young, hauling his small five-year-old body in his powerful arms and telling him stories of Vikings and sea legends of old._


End file.
